I have to take my own advise as well.  For instance, I hate contact forms on a website.  Contact forms just make me feel like someone is collecting email addresses, avoiding giving me their real email address, afraid to use a telephone, and giving me no idea when I will get an answer (if ever).  Now, I advise my clients to use contact form despite my personal point of view.

I know that not everyone has my feelings about contact forms.  Some people prefer them.  Your question or problem is in the official que, you don’t have to leave your browser program to send a message, it’s right there, and easy to use.

Almost every site I design I put in a contact form or present the idea as an option.  I also make sure client’s list contact information so potential business isn’t just forced to partake in the contact form.

That’s one weird (fun) part of my job…I take myself out of the equation.

The logos we all know and love are not the logos companies had as successful start-ups. Apple’s original logo was Newton sitting under a tree. Nike was a brand created for an already existing shoe company, not a start-up company. Walmart, Exxon, Toyota can be considered successful start-ups (they are fortune 10 companies now), but they didn’t start with the branding we know today.

The great logo success stories are re-branding efforts of already successful companies. IBM could afford to pay for their branding because they were a big company…like all of the logos we know and love.

OK, I’m talking to start-up businesses here and cautioning against spending too much of your capital upfront on branding before you have a company. Sure, there are businesses like clothing lines where your company is a brand, those are different.

Kozmo spent a pretty penny on their branding. The reason we don’t applaud this logo is that the company went belly up. How could that happen? They had a great brand.

A new company needs to present itself as professional. A new company needs to be flexible. If your focus changes you better hope your branding can change. Any marketer who tells you that you need to spend a huge budget on branding to avoid a costly rebranding process, just point out that you would rather be Apple than Kozmo.  They did have a nice logo for a start-up.

Chicago Graphic Design Firm

Chicago Graphic Design

Graphic Design Chicago

Graphic design firm Chicago.  Marketing firm Chicago. Why repeat “keywords” online? It’s called search engine optimization or SEO for short. Chicago graphic design firms and chicago marketing firms are keyed into these terms as the will drive business to your site. As you can see, I’m repeated the terms design firm chicago, graphic design firm chicago, and marketing firm chicago several times in this blog.

Other variations I might consider are graphic design firms chicago, graphic design firm chicago, marketing chicago, marketing firm chicago, marketing firms chicago, web design chicago, web designer chicago and web design firm chicago.

Google and Yahoo send out their robots to index the internet. When they come across a phrase like graphic design chicago, they log that as a term important to the site it is linked to. When someone does a search for graphic design chicago, my site may come up sooner due to my “inbound” links.

I got a pretty good bump from the last post, so I thought I’d try it again.  Maybe I’m gaming the system a bit here, but marketing is about getting the word out.  That’s hard to do on page 10 of results.

OK, this is totally over the top…But I think this communicates a simple activity to build traffic and something to think about when you are writing your blogs. One final one… chicago graphic design!

Chicago graphic design

Chicago graphic design firm.  Chicago marketing firm.  Why repeat “keywords” online?  It’s called search engine optimization or SEO for short.  Chicago graphic design firms and chicago marketing firms are keyed into these terms as the will drive business to your site.  As you can see, I’m repeated the terms chicago design firm, chicago graphic design firm, and chicago marketing firm several times in this blog.

Other variations I might consider are chicago graphic design firms, graphic design firm chicago, marketing chicago, marketing firm chicago, chicago marketing firms, chicago web design, web design chicago and chicago web design firm.

Google and Yahoo send out their robots to index the internet.  When they come across a phrase like chicago graphic design, they log that as a term important to the site it is linked to.  When someone does a search for chicago graphic design, my site may come up sooner due to my “inbound” links.

I have a client who is a kansas city bankruptcy firm.  I just advised them to make similar links on their blogs and thought I should take my own advice.

OK, this is totally over the top…But I think this communicates a simple activity to build traffic and something to think about when you are writing your blogs.  One final one… chicago graphic design!

These days, it’s harder to get a business loan.  Some people are starting that business because they were laid off.  Maybe the timing is off, but you have to start that business now.  What do you do if you have “no” marketing budget?  How can you make your startup look professional?

As a graphic designer, I’ll share some insight and tips to give you the bare minimum to get off the ground.  I wouldn’t suggest doing design yourself, but you can hire a graphic designer and not break the bank.

PART I: LOOK PROFESSIONAL…The minimum.

Do I need a logo?

Yes, but don’t sweat it.  Simple type with a simple tagline is fine in a pinch.  Avoid exploring a “mark” -  you won’t have the budget to get to the point where it doesn’t look like clip art.  A full logo design process should take a minimum of 20 hours of design fees.  I bill $85 per hour, so that’s $1700.  Choose an initial logo that can be executed easily and look professional.

Here’s a simple logo for “ScrapCo” that look me less than a minute to put together.  Sure, it’s not blowing anyone away, but it looks professional and took little of your budget to design.  If this was on a business card or in a website it presents you as a professional company.  My logo is “just type” but I hired an outside designer to do it for me.  I was wasting time trying to communicate so much about my business in a logo that I lost focus of it’s basic function…showing your business’s name.

My tagline isn’t “making the world a better place,” but it’s “graphic design | marketing.”  By simply listing what you do in a concise manner, you complete the logo.  Your logo and tagline should do the same thing…State your name and what you do.  People think of taglines like “Coke, The real thing.”   Coke is not a startup.  Everyone knows what Coke is.  A good first tagline for Coke would be “Coke, A Cola Soda.”  Isn’t the Coke logo just a type treatment?

Also, choose your company color.  Better yet, have a designer do it.  As you see, ScrapCo went with a blue and gray combo.

Do I need a website?

Hell yes!  These days, your website is your most important marketing tool.  Buy a URL (web address) and set up a website.  How can you have a website with “no” budget?  Use a template or have a designer build a simple site.  Incorporate your logo and colors.

You can host a site on WordPress, a free blogging site.  There’s an upgrade so you can have “scrapcoindusties.com” instead of “scrapco.wordress.com.”  This blog is hosted on WordPress and I’ve upgraded to have my own URL.

Google, GoDaddy and lots of other hosts provide a click-and-build website package.

If you go with a template, I would still have a designer look at it.  You’ll want custom images and colors so that your site won’t feel like a lame template.

What about business cards, envelopes, and letterhead?

Printing business cards is cheap.  You can use an online printer like VistaPrint and get a ton of cards easily.  I’ve never had envelopes and letterhead printed.  I have my documents formatted to print my logo and info as part of the document.  I run my envelopes through a printer to address them, so I “print” the envelopes as I need them.  Don’t spent money on that stuff if you don’t have it.

PART II: REAL MARKETING

Ok, so how do I get customers?

This should be your main concern!  The logo, the website, the business cards don’t matter without clients.  Without a budget, it takes more work.  Perhaps it is better to think about marketing yourself to get business as an activity rather than waiting for your marketing to build business.  You play an active role.

Hit the phones.  You have your minimum pieces in place to back you up.  Direct prospects to your website for more info, or send them a letter and business card to follow up.

Hit the internet.  Register your site, blog, comment on blogs, and yes, social network.  Join LinkedIn and connect to everyone you can/know.  Direct traffic to your site through your networks.  Put links to your site in your signature when you comment online.

Email marketing.  Build a database and send out emails.  You don’t have to pay printing costs or postage costs associated with direct mail.  Plus, when the prospect receives an email, you can link them to your website or blog for unlimited information.

Once you are off the ground and have some success, go ahead an give your company the redesign it deserves.

When it comes to design, people feel it’s perfectly fine to get your mom’s opinion.  Sure, graphic design in not brain surgery, but IT’S NOT JUST A MATTER OF TASTE.  REALLY.  I know the size of type in magazines and newspapers (it’s not 12 pt), if know what colors read better together, and I’ve done thousands of professional layouts that  I’ve been paid for.  You could say that I’m an expert.

I’ve never had a client say that they’ve paid another designer for a second opinion before having me make their logo way too big.

Just remember that you have the right to disregard the opinion of your graphic designer, your auto mechanic, your lawyer, and your doctor, but you are dismissing the advice of experts.

Don’t get me wrong, I respect my clients and their personal expertise of their industry and audience, but I just want some respect for my profession.  I may just start wearing a lab coat to meetings.

Before

We love designing a website when the client has a terrible website or no site at all.  We come out looking like geniuses.  What do we do when the original site is good…or worse, a site designed by us?

Here is example of a site we just redesigned: The Law Office of Matthew L. Hood.  We like the original design.  It was a solid solution to their needs a year ago.  The firm is a general practice firm that was just opening and needed a web presence.  The design was clean and elegant with simple navigation.  We positioned the firm as professional and modern.

Recently, the client has added a bankruptcy practice and wanted to focus on that (but not exclusively).  They have realized that the website is a great marketing tool and has brought in some business.  We advised them to redesign the whole site to accomplish their new goals.

After

We redesigned the site to enhance their search engine optimization.  New tags and sections were added to increase their visibility.

The bankruptcy practice has become it’s own section on the site and the first button on the navigation.  With additional links, text, and images on the homepage, that bankruptcy is clearly a main practice of the firm.

We also changed from one static skyline shot on the homepage to a Flash slideshow to help tell the firm’s story.

We enlarged the phone number and moved it to a place of prominence to help drive business to the firm.  We also have contact forms on every page as well as an embedded map.

We used to handle overflow text with scrolling text boxes but now allow the entire page to scroll.  Now that there is a greater quantity of content, this was a necessary change.

I think we kept what was working with the original site and enhanced the design with new features and focus.  This approach makes sense for new companies…We didn’t blow their budget in the first place, so they we able to hire us to update the site after only a year.

website 2.0

The answer is simple…The page is for potential clients, not really for job seekers.  I want to work with a company that is hiring.  They must be doing something right if they are hiring.  You can tell visitors to your site that you are successful without having to say “we are successful.”

Beyond just having the page, you can write to content with clients in mind.
“We hire only highly skilled people who are self-motivated.”
“We do a thorough background check to ensure applicants are qualified and skilled.”
“We look for employees that will focus on our client’s goal.”

Obviously, you tailor this content for your company.  A bankruptcy law firm may say “All our staff must be experts in the current laws, including…blah…blah…”

The downside of course is that this may be a tease to job seekers out there.  I’ll admit that it’s not the nicest thing to do for an unemployed person, but it’s not about them, it’s about you and your clients.  Make sure not to say “We are hiring now” or “we are looking for…”

You can automate the responses to job seekers.  Put a contact link or form on the careers page to jobs@”yourwebiste”.com and set up an auto response that you are not hiring.  Again, write the email as if it will be read by your clients.  “Our team is currently complete with skilled, talented individuals…”  It may be a good thing to have a mailbox full of job seekers if you do need to hire.

It’s so easy to just copy and paste.  Of course, it’s just as easy to discover the plagiarism.

Businesses cannot act like lazy high school students.  Write your own content.

It’s amazing that a business will pull the same crap.  I know it’s easy to cut and paste, but it’s also easy to do a Google search to see who’s stealing my content.  A professional doesn’t commit plagiarism.  I’m not a lawyer, but I do know that it against the law to steal your content from another website.

• Put your message in your own words.
• Hire a writer if you have trouble.
• Tailor your message for your customers.
• Don’t steal.

I could have just copied this from another blogger…Wow, that would have saved me some time!