Media Concepts of Pocatello

6 Email Mistakes that cost you money

admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:02:19 +0000

Found this article you may find useful for any email campaigns you may be contemplating.

Link to article is at the bottom, just click or scan the QR code.

by Kelley Robertson (via business know-how)
Email is a widely used prospecting tool but it is seldom used correctly or as effectively as it could be. Most sales people and small business owners make a variety of mistakes that prevent them from increasing their sales when using email to grow their business. Here are the top six mistakes they make that cost them money.

Mistake 1–Poor subject line

Never, ever reference your company name in a prospecting email. That’s the fastest way to make sure it doesn’t get read. Also, don’t mention something lame like your new website. Do I REALLY care about your new website? Does anyone other than your marketing team and the person who approved the budget care about it? I highly doubt it. A prospecting email must start with a great subject line that catches your contact person’s attention. Executives receive hundreds of emails every day and if your email has a dull or boring self-serving subject line, it’s going to get deleted without being opened or read.

Mistake 2–Asking me for feedback

Once again, I’m too busy to give you feedback on YOUR stuff. This is not a compelling way to capture and keep my attention. Because your email is a sales letter (which I have nothing against) I know that your request is simply an attempt to get me to click-through your link. If you want your email to take action make sure that you address a specific problem my company is facing. Then, I might be compelled to follow through on your request.

Mistake 3–Generic approach

The statement, “It describes our services and success with companies just like…” tells me nothing about your product or service. While you or your marketing department might think that it is a creative and intriguing approach, it isn’t. If you really want to get my attention tell me what success have you achieved with other companies like mine. Show me that you have solution to one of my problems. Answer those issues and I will be more likely to click-through.

Mistake 4–Using the wrong company name

If you are going to use a computer-generated list, make sure that your information-gathering system actually captures the right information.
Otherwise, people will know that your email was mass-produced from a list or computer-generated list. Enough said.

Mistake 5–Ask me to sign up for a webinar (or other ‘pitch’)

Most senders do nothing to establish any type of value so why would I waste my time signing up for a webinar? Especially a webinar that I know is going to be sales pitch and may or may not be of value to me. Decision makers are far too busy to sit through a thinly veiled marketing pitch.
Give people something of value and you will get a better response.

Mistake 6–Poor use of the P.S.

It is widely known that a P.S. at the end of a sales letter or email gets read. However, the P.S. statement in most emails focus entirely on the company and do nothing to make people want to click on one of the links in the email. Use a testimonial from a satisfied client or a result you achieved with a particular company instead.
Email is a great way to connect with potential prospects and companies–when it’s used as part of an overall campaign and when it is used properly. Avoid these blunders and improve your odds of successfully connecting with your prospect and increasing your sales.

Guitar Outlet

admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:20:25 +0000

A new sponsor for next years ISU Marketing Association Battle of the Bands, aka Pokapalooza, is the Guitar Outlet in Pocatello. Here is the logo and stationery I developed for them.

also in black and white

Since they will be online as well, I created a version of the logo with their domain name.

A social media avatar is included.

And here is the stationery presentation.

Less Sites, More Ads

admin — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:18:10 +0000

I am making a subtle change to the kind of business I am pursuing. I will be focusing more on a complete presentation of the business instead of just creating a website for clients. This means folding the website presence into the rest of the mass media presence a company uses to send out their message and acquire customers or clients.

I will still offer logo and graphic design, but I will also be looking at how the website, the brochures, the rest of printed and electronic media and how they all relate to the end goal of customer education and service. The bottom line is profitability, and happy customers make happy business owners.

All this to say I am not pursuing purely website only business. I work and go to school full time, so I will only be able to help businesses that know what they want to say to their potential clients and how they want to say it.

So for the time being, I’m looking at creative projects involving advertising layout and how they can be used in a multiple instances of print and electronic media. I appreciate all the opportunities I’ve received in the past, and I’m looking forward to bigger and more exciting days ahead!

Brick Oven Pizza Menu

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 06:10:11 +0000

I redesigned the menu for Brick Oven Pizza here in Pocatello. At this point, it looks like they’ll be using it in the future.

Update: Here’s the final version of the menu. Click the picture below to see the PDF that is being used currently.

What it means to have a web designer

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:59:55 +0000

I have found myself bewildered lately. It’s about the state of how web designers are viewed as such a secondary resource in the presentation of a small business.
It is true that just about anyone who can type on a keyboard can make their own website, but generally, most small businesses don’t have the time to learn how to present themselves effectively online.
By effectively I mean to communicate visually in a way that creates and spurs interest in getting to know that business or owner. I see so many websites that start, but don’t finish, what they have to say.
At the end of the experience, a viewer should know why or why not to business with a company, and the company should show they know the difference.
If a ballet slipper company is trying to sell to me and my demographic, they’re ignoring the little girls who may be interested in their product.
Being specific in your message, giving cues as to who you’re talking to, and providing ideas to help your non-demographic be your ambassador is what helps a website communicate effectively.
In the end, there are so many tools a web designer has that the regular business owner can’t or won’t access, that it just makes sense to have a web designer as a primary resource in marketing and advertising a business online.
What do think?

Rid Yourself of Damaging Word-Habits!

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:36:54 +0000

by Stephanie Bickel

Perhaps you have convinced yourself that your speech is not a problem. You are getting by fine because you can hide behind email and supervisors or managers. Perhaps, you have continued to advance in your career despite your less than eloquent elocution. Why have you procrastinated this work? Clearly people with excellent phrasing and superior vocabularies are impressive. Why wouldn’t you want to join their leagues and meet a new level of success in your career? Here are some quick-tips that will elevate your elocution immensely.

1. Eliminate the Digestive Noises: Um and Ah and Uh!

Listen to yourself and others. Everyone is doing it. Let the habit annoy and frustrate you in all who do it. This is the first step to changing the habit. Find out why you are doing it. Are you trying to signal to your audience that you still have the floor? Are you off-gliding on your consonants like, “I am, and-UH he is.” If this is a habit of yours, strive to accept silence and final consonant endings. Be comfortable with the silence and resume speaking when the thought is there. People who use “um” to illustrate their thought process appear less sure and less knowledgeable. If they knew what they were saying, they would not stall with “um.”

2. SORTA, KINDA!

Eliminate the approximators, “sort of” and “kind of.” These words make you appear less than sure of your ideas. If you are less than sure, call it an approximation. Never use these approximators in this format, “I sort of think we should wait.” This is passive language. It shows weakness! If this is a habit of yours, determine if there is an environment where this language is appropriate. Monitor your usage of these phrases and eliminate the inappropriate usage. A true leader would never use such weak language.

3. Stop the stalling and clarifying!

“Basically…,” “My Point is…,” “What I’m Trying to Say is…” Reduce the use of stallers and clarifiers. The easiest way to annoy an audience is to tell them through your language usage that you were wasting their time prior to this point. Long-winded speakers without a point often use these phrases. Audiences tune out and become hostile when they hear them. Monitor your usage and abusage.

4. SCRAM GET!

Reduce the GET in your language! You sound like you have never seen a college entrance exam. GET is a rough word that lacks all finesse. It is neither a motivator nor a seller! Observe your speaking to determine if this is a habit of yours. By substituting other words for GET, you polish your image dramatically! Write down the phrases you use that involve GET. Write out alternatives for them. Post a note on your desk of your GET habits reminding you to substitute words like obtain, acquire, gather, find, and retrieve for GET.

5. Reduce the JUST – Addiction

“I JUST thought it would be good to have a meeting.” “I JUST don’t think that’s right.” “I JUST thought I would add another point.” “It JUST doesn’t make sense.” What does the excess use of JUST signal? An excuse! I call it the whiney-excuse word. People who feel threatened or weak, use JUST. It is not the language of someone in a position of power.

6. Avoid Absolutes!

Do you prefer absolutes when conveying your ideas? “This software always works.” “That firm never executes on time.” When using absolutes, you are asking to be proved wrong. Substitute often for always and rarely for never. In sales professions, it may be appropriate to use absolutes. Telling a customer that “This price is often lower than competitors’ prices” will probably not give you the sale. If you are in sales, use absolutes sparingly so you do not diminish their weight.

7. Reduce Failure

Everyone makes mistakes, but the language experts know how to present them. Be cautious describing your failures or mistakes to others. Avoid the following words: wrong, mistake, and failure. Those are strong words that people can attach to their perception of you. Substitute those with: experienced growing pains, achieved limited success, misstep, mischaracterization, or fell short of expectations. Take some time to write out a plan for how you will handle your next misstep.

8. Leave High School Slang Behind

“That sucks.” “That’s awesome.” “Cool!” “Wicked!” “Cheesy.” “What a tool!” “Like… no.” The older and more established you are, the more charming it is to use such phrases – but do it SPARINGLY. An older executive using “cool” can be charming. Otherwise, eliminate the slang of yesterday! A younger professional using high school slang will appear less than experienced, less than mature, and less than articulate. Find substitutes for your habit words!

9. Stop the Excessive MM-HM

Do you have the need to show your agreement and attention by excessive head bobbing and humming agreement? This is an acceptable tool at a minimum. However, as a habit, it is distracting and reduces your power. Using excessive agreement in conversation gives your power away! Although you are putting your colleague at ease, the colleague may become too comfortable with you. Put all this agreement energy in your eyes! That will show your colleague that he has your attention, but you will maintain the power in the conversation.

10. Stop bullying for support.

“Y’know?” “You know what I mean?” These are bullying phrases. People who abuse these phrases are seeking to gain instant support for poorly explained ideas. Instead of properly describing ideas or motivating others, these abusers care more about the ends versus the means. These people miss details and offend listeners who feel bullied into agreement. People who use these phrases tend to race through details and to lack patience and focus. This habit is an enormous turn-off to an audience.

Copyright Stephanie Bickel, Ltd.

Stephanie Bickel is an image consultant for Speak by Design. Private and group instruction is available for individuals, couples, and organizations interested in improving speech, presence, and creativity. Speak by Design offers courses for accent reduction, vocal development, power presence, team building, and stage fright. Visit www.speakbydesign.com for more information.

The Six Things Clients Want

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:54:34 +0000

I found this article fascinating. I’m mostly re-posting it here because I don’t want to lose the information. I want to put these points into practice.

by Rishad

I have had the privilege of working with some of the finest companies. Yesterday, as I heard input from a Client on what they value and expect most from outside partners, it struck me that across industries, across the world and across client sizes, everyone is asking pretty much for the same six things.

Three of these are outputs and three focus on how the partner works.

Outputs: Insights, Ideas, Inspiration.
Process: Collaboration, Iteration, Operating Discipline

1. Insights: Clients pay the highest premium in not just economic value but their attention and their admiration to firms that bring them insights about their customers or their business. I have seen businesses saved and businesses poached away by firms that could provide a new way of understanding the marketplace. Something that is so obvious and yet not obvious. If we are living in an age where consumers are in control, understanding them is critical.

2.Inspiration: Agencies and outside partners see a world different than a Client. Most work across different industries and have a different employee mix. Clients in these changing times want to know how they benchmark against the best. Not just their industry, but across industries. Showing them examples, taking them to conferences, bringing in outside experts, all speak to this hunger, while underlining that their partners are in touch with changes happening around them.

3.Ideas: In the end despite debate as to whether Clients pay adequately for ideas, it is clear that Clients care a lot about ideas and without a good flow of them it is hard for an outside partner to remain valuable. Even if a Client does not buy the ideas, the inability to present ideas, including ones that stretch and are out there, often is reason for the Clients eye to wander. Best partners provide “gifts” of a big idea or two every few months.

While insight, inspiration and ideas are the wings of a healthy partnership, there are some processes or ways of working that are as important and often can carry a relationship when the ideas, insights and inspiration are wanting or can challenge a partnership when not present even if ideas, inspiration and insights are flowing.

4.Collaboration: Clients hate (and it is not to strong a word) the lack of collaboration between their various partners and agencies. They resent having to baby sit grownups who cannot play together. They see the friction as a loss of time and economic value. As industries blur in the digital world and many partners all claim expertise or rights to the same area ( e.g. “social”) this has become an obsession with Clients. The words “childish”, “soap-operatic” and ” I wish I could dump the whole lot and start again” are heard. Yes, often the Client’s incentives and structures encourage the petty and insecure behavior we engage in when our turf emotions and short term economic incentives make us forget the big picture. The big picture is that clients are trying to build economic value of their brands via insights, ideas and inspiration and frankly will reward for that.

5. Improvement and Iteration:In a world of change is the outside partner improving themselves. Are they remaining curious, challenging the status quo and remaining curious, cutting costs, becoming more productive? Clients are under intense pressure to enhance productivity and are looking for their partners to become more productive themselves. This is not just about cutting costs but also developing better creative, re-using ideas from one part of the globe in an other, eliminating or automating things that can be.

6. Operating Discipline:This is the least sexy and interesting part of what Clients want because in many ways they expect it. Can their partner actually run their own business by managing budgets, schedules, legal clearances and the like. Are they responsiveness and do they staff with capable people. Can the agency or partner make the trains run on time, read the signals and ensure the engine stays on track? The wrong ad shipped to the wrong media company, lack of legal approval and non responsiveness in an emergency get folks fired all the time.

Every quarter or six months it behooves anyone serving a Client to ask themselves and then their clients:

1. What ideas, insight or outside inspiration and stimulation did we provide?
2. How can I be more collaborative, how can I get my Client to help me be more collaborative?
3. What specifics can I share with the Client as to how I improved my offerings and services recently?

The big benefits of a healthy relationship of trust, respect, wealth and a true partnership ensue as a result of being able to deliver on the six clients wants over time.

15 Helpful Website Usability Facts & Guidelines

admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:21:35 +0000

Web site usability is the quality of a user’s interaction with a web site or, in other words, how usable a web site is to the user. Ultimately, users want to be able to easily access a web site and determine how to use it within seconds. Usability influences whether many users will return to a web site, how often they will use the web site, and how happy they are with their overall experience at the web site. There are millions of sites on the Internet and they are all in competition for users’ time and attention. Users get their expectations for usability from the best of all of these other sites.

This article explores ways to make web sites more usable for users. It examines the meaning and importance of web site usability and how usability can be considered when designing a website:

Design is a key determinant to building online trust with consumers. For motivated users of an information site, bad design (busy layout, small print, too much text) hurts more than good design helps. – Sillence, Briggs, Fishwick, and Harris, 2004.
Layout on a web page (whitespace and advanced layout of headers, indentation, and figures) may not measurably influence performance, but it does influence satisfaction. – Chaperro, Shaikh, and Baker, 2005.
Experience matters: Blue links are easier to click than black ones, even though black ones have higher visual contrast and are easier to see. – Van Schaik and Ling, 2003.
It’s important to consider the users when you have a choice of icons, links, or both. Initial performance is best with the link alone. Frequent users can use either equally effectively. Icons are not faster, relative to text links alone. – Wiedenbeck, 1999.
Rules of thumb for icons: Make them as large as feasible, place frequently used icons in a persistent task bar, and arrange them either in a square (first choice) or in a horizontal layout. – Grobelny, Karwowski, and Drury, 2005.
The acceptance and impact of animation is enhanced when users are warned to expect it and allowed to start it when they want. – Weiss, Knowlton, and Morrison, 2002.
Use of whitespace between paragraphs and in the left and right margins increases comprehension by almost 20 %. – Lin, 2004.
A format of 95 characters per line is read significantly faster than shorter line lengths; however, there are no significant differences in comprehension, preference, or overall satisfaction, regardless of line length. – Shaikh, 2005.
Applications vs. websites: In general, visual layout guidelines for GUIs also apply to the web, but there are differences to be aware of. For example, dense pages with lots of links take longer to scan for both GUI and web; however, alignment may not be as critical for web pages as previously thought. – Parush, Shwarts, Shtub, and Chandra, 2005.
Narrative presentation enhances comprehension and memory. Narrative advertisements produce more positive attitude about the brand and a higher incidence of intent to purchase.– Escalas, 2004.
On sites with clear labels and prominent navigation options, users tend to browse rather than search.Searching is no faster than browsing in this context. – Katz and Byrne, 2003.
Users will wait longer for better content. Users will wait between 8-10 seconds for information on the web, depending on the quality of the information. – Ryan and Valverde, 2003.
Consumer purchase behavior is driven by perceived security, privacy, quality of content and design, in that order. – Ranganathan and Ganapathy, 2002.
In 2001, Bernard found that prior user experience with websites dictated where they expected common web page elements to appear on a page. The same still holds true today: Users have clear expectations about where to find the things they want (search and back-to-home links) as well as the things they want to avoid (advertising). – Shaihk and Lenz, 2006.
When assessing web accessibility under four conditions (expert review, screenreader using JAWS, automated testing via “Bobby”, and remote testing by blind users) those using screenreaders find the most issues, while automated testing finds the least number of accessibility issues. – Mankoff, Fait, and Tran, 2005.

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