I recently received a tote bag at a book publishing seminar that moonlights as a gym duffel. I drink my daily servings of water out of a plastic mug I received at a cooking trade show. I am what you might call a casual swag user.

The great thing about a tchotchke is that it sells you and your product – but what freebie is right for your company?

It depends. Before choosing, it’s important to know two basic pieces of information: your budget and your audience.

Once you’ve got that down, start considering your flair. You want to:

Avoid the trash bin. Mindless wanderers will snag your swag, even if they don’t need it. By the end of the event, many attendees purge their booty of items they took but will never use. Don’t be disposable.

Meet a need. At a dental convention? Hand out an eye-catching pack of floss. Are your colleagues germ-conscious health care professionals? Hand sanitizer is a good bet. People want something that they can use, so know your clientele.

Promote your promotion. A cool freebie will draw in people, even if they have no prior knowledge of you or your products and services.  A tickler invitation with information about your item, an e-blast or a blog promotion is a great way to spread the word.

Be memorable. You don’t have to give away customized robot assistants, but try to be as catchy as possible. Pens, mini notepads and the like have been done to death. Use this as an opportunity to show that you’re forward-thinking.

Provide access. It’s one thing to create buzz at an event – it’s another to stick in people’s minds long enough for them to contact you afterward. Be sure to include not only your logo, but also a phone number, website or email address to promote relationships in the future.

If so, ask yourself another question: Have you ever seen a 10-year-old brochure? Not only does the color fade over time, but the information also becomes stale.

As customers’ needs change, so should your marketing strategy. And it isn’t as difficult as you think – designers have the technology to create eye-catching graphics that communicate your message effectively while also highlighting your products or services.

Many businesses have steered away from physical copies of their brochures and turned to digital versions of their marketing collateral. Going electronic allows companies to post brochures or sell sheets on their websites and send information to potential customers instantly. I remember waiting three to seven business days to receive a brochure or catalog in the mail. Now, I receive them immediately and can save the materials on my computer.

By providing customers with a digital format, you’re able to reach a larger audience. In addition, you’re not limited to a certain number of printed copies if you have price constraints. Another great advantage of going electronic with your brochures is that you can adjust your content quickly when necessary.

Not sure what the difference is? You’re in the right place. We’ve put together a primer on the basics of CMS and non-CMS sites to help you find the right fit for your company.

Under the hood

While most clients leave the techy stuff to us, there are two very different scenarios if you peek into the back end of a CMS versus a non-CMS site. Traditional HTML sites are written in HTML code and have static content. What you see is what you get with one of these sites – changing anything requires you to go in and change the site’s actual code.

A CMS site, on the other hand, is driven by a dynamic database that determines the content that appears on each screen. While these sites also contain HTML code, the way they’re built allows users to add or change content on pages without knowing HTML themselves.

Pros and cons

For many of our clients, the ability to update a CMS site on their own is a huge selling point. We give clients a one-hour CMS training when their sites launch, and that training contains everything they need to know about adding, deleting and editing pages on their sites. Instead of relying on your marketing agency to update the names of your trustees or add a new item to the event calendar on your website, you can do it yourself on a CMS site, which can be a big money-saver.

So does that mean CMS sites are more expensive? Not necessarily, depending on how large your site is. While there’s an upfront cost to create the CMS database, creating each screen takes less time in a CMS site than a non-CMS site. That means it’s cheaper to build a small website in traditional HTML, but using a CMS is more cost-effective for a website larger than 15 pages.

Some clients also don’t have the time or desire to handle site updates themselves. In that case, an HTML might make more sense for them.

Figuring out what’s best for your company is a big decision – and one we’re happy to talk through with you.

Merriam-Webster defines a homonym as, “One of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning.” Whether you’re composing an email or crafting an article for a trade magazine, clean copy counts, and falling victim to the phonetically fickle homonym in your professional writing is an embarrassing way to undermine your abilities.

These are some of the most egregious examples that crop up frequently:

• I’m a big fan of there presentation style
• I couldn’t decide weather or not to use that font
• We will complete the project over the coarse of six months

There are many lesser-known but equally amusing examples, however. For example:

• If you’re running from the cops (police), go hide in the copse (a small wooded area)
• She thought her wailing infant was staging a coup (brilliant, unexpected stroke or act), but was relieved when the crying changed to a soft coo (a soft, murmuring sound)
• She barely ate for fear of a larger waist (area between the ribs and hips), and began to waste (make ill use of) away
• I ought not (function word to make a group of words or a word negative) tie that knot (an interlacing, twining or looping of a cord or rope), or all will be for naught (nothing)
• My senses (the faculty of perceiving by means of sense organs) tell me that it’s time for another community census (a periodic governmental enumeration of population)
• Atop the peak (a sharp or pointed end; hill or a mountain ending in a point) a lovely bird piqued (to excite, especially by a provocation) my interest, so I stole a peek (a furtive look)
• The pros (the affirmative side) of writing in prose (writing that is not poetry) outweighed the cons

Now you know the ins and outs of homonyms. How you use this knowledge is up to you.

You may think that your products sell themselves, but that isn’t always the case. Sell sheets are concise, one-page documents containing details about a particular subject. When used appropriately, well-crafted sell sheets do just what they promise — help drive your sales.

Let’s say you attend a trade show on behalf of your company. At the show, you distribute a folder with three product sell sheets to a customer. When that customer leaves, the folder and sell sheets become your advertisement, providing a snapshot of what you offer and how it differs from other companies’ products or services.  Sell sheets are also an opportunity to provide information about your company’s history and other distinguishing company characteristics, such as industry awards.  This gives you an advantage over competitors who don’t provide take-home information for customers and clients.

Sell sheets also come in handy when meeting a customer for lunch to discuss your products and services. Providing a folder with sell sheets helps show how the product or service works and keeps your conversation focused. Once your meeting is done, the customer is able to take the information with them.

Here are some sell sheet tips:

• Proofread! Proofread! Proofread!
• Keep it to one page (front and back is OK)
• Be concise
• Add images
• Include contact information

Well-designed sell sheets can make your business look more professional and trustworthy.  When it comes time for your customer to buy, the right marketing materials can put you on the top of their list.

When designing a logo, the first item on your to-do list is to discuss concepts and ideas with your client. It’s important to talk with the client so you can understand and meet their design expectations.

Next, develop your ideas with some good old fashioned sketching. After you have a few promising concepts established, it’s time to move to the computer. The MasterGraphics logo was created by layering different shapes and then adjusting the colors and opacities. Below is an inside look at the step-by-step progression.

Not all of your sketches will translate well on screen. If you come across one that doesn’t seem to be working, don’t worry – just move on to another sketch. Once you’ve found something you like, make sure the final logo has a nice composition, balance and color.

The usual tricks – reading, drinking a glass of warm milk, meditation – don’t work for me. Instead of clock watching, I think about random intriguing words. It beats cleaning at 3 a.m.

Some night when your brain won’t shut down, try these on for size:

Reprobate. The neighborhood delinquent who used to pull my hair out by the handfuls and tease me mercilessly was raised by wolves. He exemplified the definition of a reprobate – a depraved or wicked person. Fascinating fact: The word was originally a verb and meant “to disapprove.” The noun was recorded in 1545.

Clink. Otherwise known as the place where they should have put the reprobate who relished making other kids cry. If this word conjures up images of Chicago “typewriters” and Packards, there’s a reason. It’s often used in old gangster movies, where the bad guy goes to “the clink.” Fascinating fact: The original clink was a prison on Clink Street in London.

Lascivious. Plunging necklines! Miniskirts! R-rated movies! At one time, all of these were considered lascivious – lustful or wanton in nature. Our perception of lewd has certainly changed. Fascinating fact: Early writers used the word to scold people for being wanton or unruly.

Moldering. The meal I ruined the other night is moldering away in the back of my refrigerator. I’m trying to convince myself it’s edible and not just a cooking experiment that went terribly awry. Moldering is smoldering’s moody cousin, and means “to crumble, disintegrate or waste away.” Fascinating fact: I should probably clean my fridge. Science projects are not a food group.

Anathema. The loser boyfriend who dumped you for your best friend isn’t a jerk. He’s an anathema – a curse on society. Fascinating fact: This word began as a positive reference to a votive offering. Over time, it became associated with damnation, excommunication and evil.

The next time you’re tossing and turning, try sampling the magic potion of word diversion. And sweet dreams!

Thanks to common sense (and high school health class), most of us realize that downing a cocktail of questionable-sounding chemicals won’t guarantee weight loss. Yet some marketing companies lure in prospects with an equally dubious promise:

“Your site will be in the first page of search engine rankings if you hire us for search engine optimization, guaranteed.”

If an agency says this to you, run. Anyone who promises you a specific ranking is, well, lying.

Without a doubt, SEO is a valuable tool that you can and should use to boost your website’s rankings on Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines. SEO is not the magic bullet some agencies want you to believe it is, however.

First of all, it’s impossible to crack the codes that search engines use to generate their rankings. They’re complex, fiercely guarded and constantly changing. Google, for example, uses more than 200 factors to rank pages – and unless you’re Matt Cutts, there’s no way to know the exact formula. While you can take cues from what’s worked in the past, how can you be sure you’re going to win the rankings game when you don’t even know what the rules are?

In addition, traditional SEO techniques, such as incorporating keywords and inbound links into a site, are just part of the puzzle when it comes to nabbing a high search ranking. When Google revamped its ranking formula last year, the Internet giant revealed that the way users interact with a website would factor into the site’s search rankings. The search engine also considers whether a site’s content is trustworthy, substantive and grammatically correct when assessing its rank, according to this blog.

The lesson? Companies need to have quality content on their site, and they need to update it often to keep visitors coming back. It’s not enough to pepper your site with keywords once – giving your readers valuable and timely information, whether it’s a how-to article on your blog or posting a newsletter, is essential for breaking the first-page ranking ceiling. Of course, you also need to incorporate appropriate keywords into that quality content and review your keywords regularly to make sure they’re still relevant.

Sound difficult to you? Maybe, but it’s the best way to land and maintain a high search ranking. Instead of thinking of SEO as a magic pill – one that guarantees you that coveted top spot in the rankings – think of it as part of your overall diet and exercise regimen. With some time and effort, you’ll get the results you want.

There’s nothing we love more than the opportunity to spread our creative wings and see where they take us. We’re pretty excited about our most recent endeavor – we hope you will be, too.

Check out our build-your-own-adventure New Year’s Eve card and let us know what you think!

Think about who you will invite to the session. It is a good idea to have a mix of people in attendance to ensure that no stone is left unturned. People who do not have any connections to the project will think of things in a different way than those who do. Consider inviting different personality types (e.g. creative, introverts, extroverts, etc.).

Prepare a brief project summary. Send this document to your brainstorming team prior to your session. Include all relevant background and request that people research independently to come up with ideas prior to the meeting.

Don’t be judgmental. The brainstorming environment should be a safe one where people are at ease with speaking what is on their mind. You may hear some ideas that you think would never work, but you never know – allow the group to explore and free associate with one another without the worry of being ridiculed. It’s your job to ensure that negativity is not in the room. If negativity rears its ugly head, however, politely point out that the group was assembled to provide a wide variety of ideas.

Be objective. You may be the one running the session, but you have to keep your ego out of the room. Do not get married to your own ideas and try not to steer people to your way of thinking. If you already had a concrete plan in place, there would be no need to hold the brainstorming session.

Remember why you’re there. Remember that you’re trying to get a lot of fresh new ideas. Your goal should be to gather as much raw material as you can. Save wrapping these ideas into a completed package for later.

Record the session. You should have someone in charge (yourself or someone you appoint) write down all the ideas the brainstorming team generates. You can even think about recording the session in addition to taking notes to ensure that no good ideas are forgotten.

Take some time away. It’s always a good idea to allow some time to decompress after a session and then revisit your notes. This will give you and the team a chance to come back and see if those sparkling ideas are still shiny. 

I hope these tips are helpful the next time you’re tasked with getting some great ideas out of your team.  Let me know if you have any other good brainstorming suggestions – we’re always looking for fresh perspectives.