1. Build a track record. Your blog will give potential customers, investors, or employers a place to go to learn more about you/your business. What if somebody important wanted to learn more about you or a customer wanted to dig deeper into your business? A blog is great to help people dig deeper.
2. Create an outlet to add value. After blogging about your industry or whatever your expertise is in you will have your very own resources you can share with people. You can send people links to the posts you have already written to answer their questions. It helps you add value to your tribe of customers or contacts.
3. Build a platform. Blogs are social. It may feel like you are talking to an empty room at first, but if you make your blog truly useful to your current contacts you will get visitors. You may not need this platform now, but you may find yourself wishing in the future that you had started earlier.
4. Teach you. Nothing solidifies learning more than teaching. In every blog post you have the ability to teach and thus to learn more about your topic.
5. Make you an expert. In the same way writing a book creates credibility a blog will give you that extra authority. For example, if two business students did equally well in school, but one takes the time to rewrite his business papers into a blog format and showcased some of his achievements publicly which of the two carries more credibility about business? If you were an employer or investor looking closely at both these students which would you pick?

Why You Should Embrace Text Message Marketing

• Out of the 4 billion mobile phones in the world 3.05 have SMS (text messaging) enabled.
• 91% of Americans use cell phones.
• Mobile phone users send/receive more texts than phone calls
• 95% of text messages are read within 15 minutes of receiving it.
• Cell phones are with your customers wherever they go.

What Would You Text?

Coupons/Discounts: One of the easiest to implement and still effective techniques of mobile marketing. While sending out coupon codes to subscribers can be done by most mass texting companies I recommend Sumo Text for their ability to automatically insert unique coupon codes for each customer.

Polling/Voting: American Idol isn’t the only one to utilize this technology. There are dozens of SMS companies that can set this system up and it creates a fun way for you to engage your customers.

Trivia: Some texting companies like Trumpia have the ability to send back shuffled responses from their software opening a wide array to deliver soft marketing touches.

Appointment Reminders: Appointment cards get lost or thrown away. If you want to invite your customer back for a check up, oil change, follow up, or some other event automating a timely text will be sure to remind them about it.

Raise Funds: Nonprofits like the Red Cross made this texting function famous when Haiti was shaken. Most companies like Sumo Text allow all of their 501 (c)3 to collect donations between $5 – $15 this way.

Info: Even just just the simple action of delivering more info instantly can improve your marketing reach. Each touch you have counts, so you can create a series of informational texts that either auto respond after sign up like (Text Cast Live can is capable of auto responders). You can also create a option tree so people can choose what to receive next.

Text-2-Email: Build your mailing list through text! Many Text messaging services have some kind of emailer built in, but my personal favorite is Sundrop Mobile for their integration to Mail Chimp.

Text message marketing is an easy way to build permission marketing opt-in lists that create customer loyalty to keep them coming back for more.

The more they spend, the less it works. The less it works the more they spend

His solution? Get permission from your customer to market to them. All advertising otherwise is interrupting them from what they are trying to do. Wouldn’t it be great if your consumer not only appreciated your advertising, but looked forward to it? Of coarse, but how do you get people to want it?

Offer something of value.

Look at this diagram (created by mashable)to see how and why consumers follow brands on social media sites.

Good permission marketing creates value by offering coupons/discounts, entertainment, information, or something inspirational to name a few. They take full advantage of free internet tools like facebook, twitter, and youtube where people spend a good amount of their time these days. Some even go farther by purchasing some more powerful tools like email marketing software, google adwords, or facebook ads.

Traditional interruption still has its place, but it will always cost far more per customer gained than it does to spend time/money on permission marketing to keep the customer or to bring them a step closer to becoming a customer.

There are hundred of blogs out there that can teach you how to do this, but I recommend starting with the lowest hanging fruit. Go after what is free and easy to set up.

• Start a facebook page
• Create a twitter account
• Create a YouTube Channel
• Create a Blogger account (You will want to upgrade to wordpress later)

NOTE: Make sure you get the permalink as close to your company name as possible (ex: facebook.com/yourbusinessname)

Start brainstorming what to actually put on these channels. Here are some questions and examples to help you get you started. Remember that they must relate some how to your business.

• Are you an expert? Can you blog about the things people ask you about the most?
• Do you have a trusted opinion? Is your taste in interior decorating valuable?
• Would the latest news in your industry also be interesting to you customers?
• Are you developing new products or services? Give them a demonstration.
• Can you teach people something related to your business? If you run an art supply store could you record some videos demonstrating how to paint landscapes?
• Do fun or interesting things ever happen at work? Can you create a behind the scenes video series to give loyal customers a better look at who you are?

Pull out a pen and paper and start brainstorming. Create a list of ideas and create a schedule to go make it happen. Read Seth’s book if you want to take it even deeper.

Just recently a have had a few people ask me about where to start with graphic design. After I found that I was typing out the same information in multiple emails I knew it had to be a blog post.

What is Graphic Design?

Let us start with the fact that graphic design is NOT digital art.

Not every piece you have seen online or on a poster is graphic design. Some of it is just art that happened to be created by the same tools (ex: photoshop) that graphics designers use. So what is it?

Dictionary.com defines it like this: the art or profession of visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience, esp. to produce a specific effect.


The difference between digital art and graphic design lies in its purpose. Graphic design purpose is to communicate visually while digital art doesn’t have to communicate anything. In other words,

Digital Art: art made created with computers
Graphic Design: visuals that communicate something specific.

So the goal of a graphic designer is to simply communicate a message with visual tools like shapes, photography, illustration, type, sculpture, etc. Any lightbulbs? Good. Lets move forward.

5 steps to become a Designer

Mottsy Logo Design from Mattson Creative on Vimeo.

Dexter Poster Time-Lapse from Mattson Creative on Vimeo.

Here are 3 MUSTS for creating your own interactive Vuvox:

1. Look for repetition: Find similarities that line up in adjacent photos. You don’t have to make it look photoshop quality in your blending, but if there are two trees next to each other try to overlap them in a creative way that tricks the eye into thinking they are the same.
2. Stay clear of straight lines: This will absolutely kill your collage. Try using the cut out feature to merge two photos together. It is not supposed to look realistic, but stylistic. Go through my collage above again and notice how some people in the pictures almost look like they are standing in two separate photos.
3. Add links: Don’t be satisfied with just photos and videos and add hot spots that trail off to more. What if people LOVED your collage? You want to give them the opportunity to explore through more. Bring them to your flickr, youtube or blog page for starters.

The ten cent Bic pens are my favorite. Simple. Ordinary.

You might think of it as just a pen, but like to think of it as my favorite stepping stone. My first step. You see, when that ink flows onto the paper ideas are born, dreams come to life, or a revelation enters into existence.

Before it would have just been stuck in my mind floating around in the dark blue sky that it is. Of no use to anyone, including myself. In a sense lost, but with my trusty ten cent pen found. Birthed onto paper where we can give it our full attention and therefore holds the possibility to manifest fully into reality.

How do you free your ideas?

So learn how to be interesting… in 140 charachters! There isn’t a set formula, but below you will find a few time tested ideas that will get you started.

The 4 N’s (ish)

• Inform: Information that is valuable to your followers. Whether it be some juicy news, a good deal or something new that is happening. Think of what kind of headlines would catch their attention.

• Inspire: A good quote, a well chosen scripture or a timely piece of advice, just to name a few. In a world that tends to drag you down, people look for some encouragement.

• Entertain: A joke, sarcasm, smart remark, haiku, or a link to a funny video on YouTube.
• Empower: This is information or maybe a link to a tool that helps people accomplish something. It might be free design tool or gold nugget of wisdom about how to calm down angry people.

Adding Personality

Tweets are short, so it can be quite a challenge to get your whole point across let alone add flavor to it. Give people something extra by adding some emotion, sarcasm, or interesting insight.

OK: I’m eating breakfast
Better: Just finished my Wheaties this morning… I can feel the power surging already!
Ok: At Wallmart. Thinking aboug renting a redbox movie.
Better: On my way out of Wallmart and that Red Box is begging for attention again…

V.I.T.A.L. Content

With url shorteners like bit.ly or ow.ly you can easily add multimedia to your tweets. Make sure to sprinkle in Videos, Images, Text, Audio, and Links.

• Video: Make in known on Twitter every time you upload a new video online or tweet about somebody else’s video that is relevant to your followers.

• Images: Intergrate your flickr.com account to twitter or share links to images you find online like you would share interesting videos.

• Text: Most of your tweets will consist of mostly text by default.
• Audio: Posting links to music or other audio files you create or find online.

• Links: Links going to all of the above! You aren’t limited only to those though. Try linking to relevant blog posts, websites, podcasts, products you like, news articles, etc.

Stage & Props

Once you build a following you can begin to engage by asking your community to get involved. Ask open ended questions for people to answer. Make sure to use the KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle or your complex question will only get people to push the like button on facebook. It also goes the other way, too. If you ask a simple yes or no question you won’t get much engagement either. The best questions are the ones a large amount of people will want to anwser. Remember to add some spice by giving your own two cents if you can make room for it.
There you have it. Now go practice and watch to see how others put them into practice!

Yea, people get paid to use facebook these days. It is a small part of my job here at Teen Mania Ministries as a project manager in the Marketing Dept. While this post is intended to be a training guide for the interns at Teen Mania’s Honor Academy, my hope is that it might also serve as a guide to help you make an impact in the world for Him.

Social Media

This Section is an intro to the philosophy, power, and principles of social media as a whole.

• Watch: Social Media in Plain English
• Watch: Social Networking in Plain English
• Watch: Social Media Revolution (2)
• Read all of these books: 16 Free Must -read eBooks on Social Media

HTML

While you don’t have to be fluent in html enough to code a website from scratch knowing the basics of this language goes a long way in social media. If you master the basics you will be set.

• Watch ALL of this YouTube Video. The video is a little long, but I promise html will make much more sense afterwords. Don’t follow along in a word doc and don’t multitask. Just watch it (this might hurt a little bit if your A.D.D.)
• Go to w3schools.com/html and read each chapter in Basics and Advanced. This will help you practice what you just watched in the video. Remember that repetition is the mother of learning. Don’t skip the “Try It Yourself” sections. Take advantage of each one of those.

Twitter

More important than you know. Find out why.

• Watch: Twitter in Plain English
• Read: Why Twitter is a BIG Deal
• Read: Mashable’s Twitter Guide Book
• Read: The Art of a Good Tweet
• Read: 8 Useful Tips to Become Successful on Twitter
• Read: 8 Simple Steps to Growing a Quality Twitter Following

Blogging

Short for Internet log. What started as an online journal platform has exploded to into your 21st century magazines.

• Watch: Blogs in Plain English
• Watch: RSS in Plain English
• Go to google.com/reader and create a free account (the same as gmail account)
• Start by subscribing to these three blogs about blogging: Pro Blogger, Seth Goddin’s Blog, and Duct Tape Marketing. Read these daily after reading the list below.
• Read: The Blog Is Dead: Long Live the Blog!
• Read: How to Nurture your Creativity
• Read: How Article Frames Show Readers a Clear Content Picture
• Read: Easy Content Scheduling for Bloggers
• Read: 7 Ways to Find Inspiration: Think Outside the Blog
• Create your own personal blog now for free at wordpress.com. Start by going to learn.wordpress.com and walking through all of their tutorials as you set up your account.

Facebook

Facebook is the social media king. Luckily, if you have done everything above, it can all be fed into Facebook where the community spends most of their time.

• Read: Mashable’s Facebook Guide

Did I miss something? Let me know in a comment below.