Monthly Archives: May 2010

What Does Your Logo Say About Your Brand?

May 27th, 2010    Design

A company’s logo tells people a lot about the company. A well designed logo can be many things, but it will almost always benefit the company it represents. On the flipside, a poorly designed logo can make a company look lazy, old-fashioned, or simply less attractive. A quality logo should not only look great wherever it is placed; it should also make people want to know more, or purchase whatever that logo is selling.

A great modern example of good vs bad logo design can be found in the energy drink section of any gas station. There you will find some of the best logo design next to some of the worst. The designers of energy drinks have gotten so focused on standing out on the shelf that they have forgotten to build trust with their designs. After all, just because you have the brightest can doesn’t mean I’m interested in consuming your beverage! Look at these energy drink cans:
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Writing for Search Engine Optimization AND People

May 14th, 2010    Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

SEO
Having a business blog can be incredibly beneficial in building trust with current and future clients, and on top of that it can bring traffic to your site! Blogs give businesses the opportunity to branch out and cast a wider net online, by allowing them to write about topics that may not be explicitly covered on-site. A good example of this would be a company that sells any given product writing a blog post about a unique way to use their product. There isn’t much room for something like this on a traditional site, but it is right at home in the company’s blog. The goal would be that someone searching for that particular topic would find the blog post, and then click over to the main site. This is a great strategy, the only issue is how to get the customer to find your blog in the first place.

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Sun Tzu and Competitive Analysis

May 10th, 2010    Marketing

Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”, a book about military strategy in feudal China, found a significant following in the business sector in recent years. Although the text is written for generals, much of it can be directly applied to businesses. One particular line deals directly with competitive analysis, and serves as something of an inspiration to learn as much as possible about competing businesses.

“It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”

Keeping this in mind, think about your company and your competitors. This quote does not deal with you being better than them, it deals with you understanding your limitations and strong points, as well as theirs. When you pitch your company over your competitors, are you touching each point where you have the clear upper hand and each point where they are clearly lacking? Current cable company vs satellite tv ads work like this. “We’ve got X number of channels with free X!” “They may have X channels, but how will you watch them if a tornado breaks the lines!”. If you highlight your company’s strong points, and your competitors weak points, you will likely find success… at least according to the following line:

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Does Your Website Look Like Circa 1999?

May 3rd, 2010    Design, Web Development

It’s 2010, and the web has been around long enough that people recognize what is current in web design, and what is outdated. Having an outdated website can have the same effect on a customer as you showing up to a meeting dressed in clothing that is distinctly not from this decade.  A poor website can sour potential customers within seconds if they can’t find what they are looking for, or are turned off by the apparent age of your site. Given the year, your online presence has the potential to be driving more and more of your business, and you want to present the best possible face you can on the web.

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