Visit the Inc.com web site to read the full article on how social media positively impacts the bottom line.

At the same time, Business Page admins have had to accept the loss of things like the beloved Default Landing Tab which many marketers had used as a Facebook “home page” showing an overview of the company or organization and encouraging users to Like the page while there.

Here are the main elements to consider with Timeline-based Facebook Business Pages:

1. Cover Image (851 x 315)
This is the most important image on your page. It should say, at a glance, what your company is all about. Get creative and do something unique.

2. Profile Picture (180 x 180 – scaled to 160×160)
A smaller version of this image shows up as a thumbnail throughout the site, so make it stand out! Generally, dark backgrounds work better for this purpose.

3. Custom Tab App Icons (111 x 74)
These graphics can be customized to replace the default icons for your Page Tabs. They should be designed to integrate with the overall aesthetic of your page.

4. Schedule Post
This is a relatively new feature for Facebook page administrators. You can now schedule your posts for a date and time in the future. No more giving yourself away as a night owl by posting at 2:ooam!

The Bottom Line
Overall, Timeline pages are much more visually-oriented than the previous version of Facebook Business Pages. While they’re less flexible in certain ways, they also offer more ways to highlight content such as creating a Milestone which offers a huge 843 pixels-wide image or pinning a post to the top of the page which stays in place for 7 days.

How are you using the Facebook Timeline format to your advantage? Share your creative implementations in the comments.

Google’s attempts at breaking into the social media space, however, have met with less success. Previous incarnations of the search giant’s social media offerings were awkward at best. Google Buzz and Google Wave were effectively busts. With the introduction of Google+, the mega-company has put their best social foot forward and, while it’s still pretty minimal in terms of features compared to well-established Facebook, G+ has built a significant, steadily-growing user base. While we don’t think Facebook has anything to worry about in terms of Google + stealing their massive audience, they have already taken a few cues from Google+ with regards to privacy and making it easier to share content with specific groups of contacts.

While Google+ has been around for a while, users have been eagerly anticipating the release of Brand Pages for the network. Until a few days ago, only individual users were allowed to use Google+ and any attempts to circumvent that rule were met with swift deletion by Google’s admins. Now that Brand Pages are finally available, people are flocking to Google+ to create their own business page and they’re probably smart to do so.

Despite the fact that a quick look at Google+ features – for both individual users and brand pages – will leave many disappointed, the key advantage that Google has to offer is their undeniable influence in the search market. And, you can be sure they’ll be working long and hard to make sure that they form as close-knit a tie as possible between the Google+ product and the Google search engine. Business owners who are looking for ways to improve their SEO rankings would be wise to pay attention to this connection and take the time to set up a Google+ profile and brand page for their business.

Our clients at NALH Bookkeeping Services who are always looking to push the envelope with their branding and social media marketing initiatives, asked us to set up and customize a new brand page for their company. While the customization options and information you can post is limited at this time, it’s a worthwhile investment of time for the potential SEO benefits.

What are you waiting for? Head on over to Google+ and set up your brand page! And, be sure to check out the BOOST Design + Marketing Google+ brand page while you’re there! If you need some help setting up a page for your business, you can always contact us.

Today, Apple released the latest version of its popular mobile operating system with a ton of updated and totally-new features. From changes to the messaging system, to OS-wide Twitter integration, the updates are advertised to be significant.

Have you already taken the plunge and upgraded your device to iOS5? What are your favorite new features? Anything you hate? Share your feedback with our readers in the comments below.

If you want to know what new features are being offered with iOS5 before upgrading your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, here’s a list taken directly from the install documentation when upgrading to iOS5:

iOS 5 Software Update
This update contains over 200 new features, including the following:

NOTIFICATIONS

• Swipe from the top of any screen to view notifications in one place with Notification Center
• New notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen
• View notifications from lock screen
• Slide the notification app icon to the right on the lock screen to go directly to the app

iMESSAGE

• Send and receive unlimited text, photo, and video messages with other iOS 5 users
• Track messages with delivery and read receipts
• Group messaging and secure encryption
• Works over cellular network and Wi-Fi*

NEWSSTAND

• Automatically organizes magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Home Screen
• Displays the cover of the latest issue
• Background downloads of new issues

REMINDERS FOR MANAGING TO-DO LISTS

• Syncs with iCloud, iCal and Outlook
• Location-based reminders when you leave or arrive at a location for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

BUILT-IN SUPPORT FOR TWITTER

• Sign-in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube
• Add location to any tweet
• View twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts

CAMERA IMPROVEMENTS FOR DEVICES WITH CAMERAS

• Double click the home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
• Volume Up button to take a picture
• Optional grid lines to line up shots
• Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
• Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
• Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure, iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock

PHOTO IMPROVEMENTS FOR DEVICES WITH CAMERAS

• Crop and rotate
• Red eye removal
• One tap enhance
• Organize photos into albums

MAIL IMPROVEMENTS

• Format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts
• Indentation control
• Drag to rearrange names in address fields
• Flag messages
• Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread
• Customize mail alert sounds
• S/MIME

CALENDAR IMPROVEMENTS

• Year view on iPad and new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch
• Tap to create an event
• View and add event attachments

GAME CENTER IMPROVEMENTS

• Use personal photos for your Game Center account
• Compare your overall achievement scores with your friends
• Find new Game Center friends with friend recommendations and friends of friends
• Discover new games with custom game recommendations

AIRPLAY MIRRORING FOR iPAD2 and iPHONE 4S


MULTITASKING GESTURES FOR iPAD

• Use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen
• Swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar
• Swipe left or right to switch between apps

ON-DEVICE SETUP, ACTIVATION AND CONFIGURATION WITH SETUP ASSISTANT

SOFTWARE UPDATES AVAILABLE OVER THE AIR WITHOUT TETHERING

iCLOUD SUPPORT

• iTunes in the Cloud
• Photo Stream
• Documents in the Cloud
• Apps and Books automatic download and purchase history
• Backup
• Contacts, Calendar, and Mail
• Find My iPhone

REDESIGNED MUSIC APP FOR iIPAD

HOURLY WEATHER FORECAST

REAL-TIME STOCK QUOTES

WIRELESS SYNC TO iTUNES

KEYBOARD IMPROVEMENTS

• Split keyboard for iPad
• Improved autocorrection accuracy
• Improved Chinese and Japanese input
• New Emoji keyboard
• Personal dictionary for autocorrection
• Optionally create keyboard short cuts for frequently used words

ACCESSIBILITY IMPROVEMENTS

• Option to light LED flash on incoming calls and alerts for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
• Custom vibration patterns for incoming calls on iPhone
• New interface for using iOS with mobility-impairment input devices
• Option to speak a selection of text
• Custom element labeling for VoiceOver

EXCHANGE ACTIVESYNC IMPROVEMENTS

• Wirelessly sync tasks
• Mark messages as flagged, read or unread
• Improved offline support
• Save a new contact from a GAL service

MORE THAN 1,500 NEW DEVELOPER APIS
BUG FIXES

PRODUCTS COMPATIBLE WITH THIS SOFTWARE UPDATE

• iPhone 4S
• iPhone 4
•  iPhone 3GS
• iPad 2
• iPad
• iPod touch (4th generation)
•  iPod touch (3rd generation)

HOW?
The design process begins with a core idea – what are we making, what purpose does it serve, to whom is it directed or being sold?  From there, the idea is refined into a solid concept – what is the general look and feel of the object or piece? Will it be a high-end product or a dollar-store item? Next, artistic renderings give the idea visual form – sketches and/or digital images are developed, various visual representations are explored. Once a graphic direction has been chosen, the visual is further refined until a final design is produced. From there, the object or piece is taken through a production process, whether it be printing for business cards or brochures or manufacturing of a cell phone or pair of shoes.

WHERE?
Design encompasses a number of specific disciplines which produce our entire visual environment:

Graphic design – product packaging, advertising, brochures, signage, business cards, banners, etc.

Industrial design – products of all shapes and sizes – cell phones, appliances, furniture, automobiles

Fashion design – clothing, shoes, handbags, hats, accessories

Architecture – houses, structures and buildings

Interior design – selection of the objects that determine the look and feel of the interior of a room or building including: wall materials, paint colors, fixtures, furniture, artwork, draperies and decorative items

WHY?
In the world at large, design is a powerful tool, used to influence people’s perception of whatever is being presented – a company, organization, product or place. With a combination of colors, images and typefaces, graphic design can introduce and educate people about a cause, problem or solution. It can help create an emotional connection around a subject to bring people together, inspire them to think and to act. It can help break through the visual “noise” of the day to deliver a message, perhaps a significant one.

WHO?
In business, image is everything. Good design can help a company increase its credibility in the minds of its target audience. By looking at a company’s brochure, web site or advertising, a good idea can be gained about what that company stands for and what segment of the market they serve. Is it a luxury or economy brand? Aimed at a younger or more mature audience? Branding is the application of design to assign a distinct “personality” to a company or organization. A brand’s look and feel provides a clue as to what the company does and what it stands for. Is it a luxury brand like Mercedes? A counter-culture brand like Hot Topic? A lifestyle brand like Apple’s iPod? A company or product’s “look” – from the product itself to packaging, advertising and store design – can often be directly linked to its price point. One can easily discern a “cheap” product from something that “looks expensive”. While it’s difficult to explain in written form, we are all trained to easily distinguish quality goods from low-end imitations. All these impressions and perceptions are the result of design. Pretty powerful stuff!

From an individual perspective, design can be a means to express personal identity. Whether it’s a pair of Chuck Taylors or a Prada handbag, an Andy Warhol painting or urban graffiti art, a Ford or a Jaguar, design, in its many forms, combine to create an exterior personal “brand”.

The power that design holds to influence us in our everyday lives cannot be overstated. It’s all around us. Good designers know how to use that power to improve people’s lives by informing their decisions and drawing attention to important topics.

RELATED READING:
Do You Matter? How Great Design Will Make People Love Your Company

To add insult to injury, several of the sites that had outright ripped off our copy were themselves designers. In one case, the person had not only stolen our copy, but images from our portfolio, advertising our work as their own. Imagine being a client of an unscrupulous designer who searches out someone else’s web site to steal content to sell themselves to said client on merits that are not their own.

Needless to say, we were not about to take theft of our copyrighted content and images lying down! We immediately had our legal advisor draft a cease-and-desist message which was sent to the owners of each of the offending sites. Most responded quickly – and apologetically – and complied with our request for removal of our content from their sites. In one case, the owner of a printing company web site told us that the person who developed the site for them provided the copy and he was dumbfounded when we presented him with our claim of plagiarism. That case proved to be the most difficult to resolve, with the developer initially refusing to co-operate. Within a few days, however, it was, thankfully, resolved.

So, the moral of this story is two-fold:

Be pro-active in protecting your copyrighted material. Your content represents countless hours of research, writing and testing and monetary investment. Don’t let some fly-by-night thief take advantage of what is rightfully yours.

And, equally important – be careful who you hire. If the combination of stellar portfolio and bargain-basement pricing seems too good to be true – it probably is. Competent, experienced design professionals know the value of what they provide to a client and their rates will reflect that value. Do a thorough background check on the person/firm to be sure they’re legit. Ask to speak to former clients and ask if the work they received measured up to the portfolio they were shown.

While it’s unfortunate that there are unsavory sorts who would stoop to outright theft of someone else’s content, it is, in fact, a reality. The best defense against these types of crooks is to not let them get away with it. You can bet the people we caught ripping off our content will think twice before doing it again. Once busted, twice shy.

Check out the Copyscape web site to find out if your content is being used without permission.

A lot of the sites we’ve included are relevant to Canadian or Vancouver-based businesses, but you can easily find sites specific to your area by doing a Google search for terms like “free business directory” and the name of your city.

Here’s 17 sites to get you started:

• Web Local
• Found Locally
• FreeBizAds.ca
• EBizPages.ca
• Canadian Business Directory
• Vancouver Web Search
• Canada One
• Ivarta Yellow Pages
• Virtual Vancouver
• Eye On Vancouver
• Business BC
• CanPages.ca
• Classifieds 1000
• Strategis Canada
• BC Business Directory
• LocalSites.ca
• Online Biz Directory

WHO: Whereas an artist generally produces art for him or herself and then offers the work up for sale in a gallery or to private collectors, a designer is engaged to create a piece that is aimed at a specific pre-determined audience. While it’s a common mistake to believe the designer is working to satisfy the personal preferences of the client themselves, our goal is to appeal to the client’s target demographic, not an individual or group of people in the client’s company.

WHAT: Unless commissioned to create a specific type of piece, an artist generally works in a medium of their own choosing. Some may focus on sculpture, while others may specialize in textile art, painting or multimedia installations. On the contrary, a designer is usually brought in to produce a specific marketing vehicle, whether it be a new logo and brand identity, a direct mail piece, signage for new real estate development or a web site.

WHY: The very reason for an artist’s creative endeavors is personal expression. The artist creates work based on their own inspiration and emotions to fulfill a personal vision of what the piece will be. A designer’s “why” is the polar opposite – we develop concepts and creative approaches that will intentionally speak to a well-defined target audience – satisfying our own preferences (or that of the client – we may have mentioned this a couple of times before…) is not the focus. Our goal should always be on appealing to someone else – the end user of the client’s product or service.

WHEN: While there are always exceptions, artists often work at their own pace, taking the time they need to work on a piece until they’re satisfied with the end result. Ask any designer and they’ll tell you that design is a very deadline-oriented business. More often than not, by the time the client engages a designer, they want the finished product asap – like, yesterday. Rarely does a designer have open-ended timelines in which to conceptualize and pore over typographic details in a layout.

WHERE: Artists generally work in a studio space, which may be in or separate from their home. Designers work in any number of settings – as an in-house designer within a larger company, within a design firm or other creative agency, as a one-man marketing/design department for a smaller company, as principal of their own company or as a freelancer.

While the aesthetic aspect of art definitely makes up a crucial component of design, the main differences between the two lie in purpose and intent. While art is generally created for art’s sake, design is a much more deliberate, calculated process with a specific end goal in mind. And, let’s face it, it’s a lot more challenging to appeal to an intended external audience than oneself. Without that audience, the very reason for the existence of design would be lost.

Now, please….go easy with the “a-word”, will ya?

Related Reading:

A Designer’s Research Manual: How to Succeed in Design by Knowing Your Clients and What They Really Need

In this instance, a single word is emblazoned across the middle of an ad, coupled with the organization’s logo and a simple call to action that we immediately “get”, resulting in a head-nodding chuckle. That’s it. No fancy Photoshop tricks, no superhot, scantily-clad models, carefully-selected stock images or overdone design. Just the perfect marriage of relevant observation to effective implementation.

Oh, yeah, and it delivered a palpable result for the client organization, too…

See for yourself: San Francisco Zoo Print Campaign

Right now, you may be thinking, “Wow, these guys are masters of the obvious!”, but not all is as it seems, Grasshopper, so please bear with us…

Like everyone on our fair planet, clients have their own thoughts, opinions and preferences about any and everything from politics and religion to car brands, vacation spots, and even their ever-so-personal, paragraph-long designer coffee order. We, too, are guilty of producing more than our fair share of strong opinions. Fortunately, like lawyers and professional critics, we chose a career that pays us for unleashing them on unsuspecting passersby…

The potential for disaster arises when the two trains of thought meet on the track. Well, helloooo…Personal Opinion, we’d like you to meet our good friend, Target Audience. While it’s important that marketing pieces, corporate identity, web sites and advertising accurately portray the personality of the company they’re representing, it can be dangerous to infuse marketing with too much of one or a few people’s personal tastes.

The key to success lies in reminding ourselves to focus on those whom our companies exist to appeal to and to serve – our customers. While it’s important to feel confident in and connected to a new logo, ad or direct mail piece, it’s essential that our audience makes that connection – immediately. So, to accomplish our goal of attracting those we aim to please, it may sometimes be necessary to look past personal opinions and find out what THEY respond to.

What age range, ethnicity, demographic and psychographic encompasses your buyers? What colours typically appeal to them psychologically? Does your audience associate specific icons or imagery with your industry? Use this knowledge when developing your collateral to put your own unique – and relevant – spin on the expected. If that means overriding your own personal penchant for hot pink – unless, of course, it’s appropriate to your audience! – so much the better for the effectiveness of your marketing efforts!

The winning recipe will be a perfect blend of that which tantalizes the senses of your buyers with just a hint of that which makes a company’s brand you-nique.