Explaining Social Media to Your Parents

Too often these days we hear "get off that phone" or "what is so important that you're always on your computer?"

Well Mom and Dad, just so you know, it's not illegal, it's social. Staying connected has become the new rage for teenagers to young professionals, and even older. If your parents are snooping around while you're on your Facebook page or while you're following your favorite celeb on Twitter, then set the record straight. Most parents these days see no benefit in knowing that "Tiffany XXX got a new tattoo of a butterfly" or "John XXX is grounded for two weeks for putting an M-80 in the toilet at school." I know my Mom could care less if the Kings of Leon are throwing a free show tonight! But that's just it, the benefits lie in the information we gather, as a social unit. When you stay connected, you feel connected. It becomes part of your daily routine to check your page, see who's doing what and let others know what's going on in your life. Even if it's not that important, someone out there is reading that update or that Tweet and for one moment, when you press send, you feel important. You somehow have a sense of validation in the world.

So my point is, get your parents connected, get them involved. They'll be excited to know they can connect with old friends and old classmates. And even though my Mom can't grasp the idea of why you have to double-click the mouse, seeing old faces and catching up with a generation that has been lost for years, is something they'll appreciate.

The “Bullseye” Effect

One essential factor in creating a small business is branding your company, its name, your logo, etc. You may not think that creating a brand identity for your company is important, because all you care about are the sales of your products and services. Wrong!

A brand is not just a logo, it is all of your ethics and persona; it is conveyed in your logo, your web site design, your letterhead and stationary, your business cards. Brand identity is maintained by being creative, concise and consistent.

Think about the last time you saw that little green lizard on TV, or the last time you only saw a “Bullseye” on the screen or in a magazine, no name attached to it. These companies have successfully branded their logo by a symbol or a sole graphic. Their brand identity is so powerful that they don’t even need to mention the company’s name and we know that it’s Geico and Target respectively.

Be proactive, NOT reactive to the way you market your company and establish your brand identity. Choose the correct target audience, get in their heads and make them remember you and your company.

The Revive Team / 919.802.0424 / Contact Us Today!

What Does Blogging Cost For You

If you believe having a blog is a waste of time, effort and energy then you are probably not seeing their true value or don’t want to understand why they are an important asset for a business.

Many, who appreciate blogs, realize this innovative and creative writing technique can be beneficial for any website, when done correctly. Done correctly, huh?

An effective blog will be written to showcase experiences, suggestions, information, links to other websites for more information, tips, stories, facts and many other things relevant to your business or industry. Notice how I never mentioned, selling something. Selling something, anything, within a blog can cost your business trust and credibility. People aren’t going to spend time trying to be sold while reading a blog. Try this tactic and the little “X” in the upper corner becomes that much more attractive and, uh oh, your reader just clicked it!

Now that you have a basic understanding of how blogs work, let’s take a closer look at three important related costs of incorporating a blog into your website.

• Money: Some blogs take money to build into the website, while others are free. Linking to your free blog site from your website is a great way to reduce costs and build your credibility, but what if a blog could help you make money? When you have a free blog site, it can’t be crawled and indexed by the search engine spiders, meaning less content being read by the spiders. Now, if you have a built in blog, everything you write can be crawled and indexed. How nice is that? More content for the spiders to absorb, helping your website rank higher within the search engines. Think of a blog as a financial and reputation building investment.

• Time: I’ve spent 15 minutes writing this particular blog up to this word. What have these last 15 minutes consisted of? A couple minutes spent reading other blogs, to help with the creative stream of points to be made, while the other time has been spent thinking and typing. Depending on the topic, blogs can soak up a good chunk of time researching, reading and trying to be creative, whereas some may take a couple minutes explaining an experience fresh in your mind. Try to make a habit of writing a blog once a week and if you think you’re really good, try two a week. It’s not brain surgery, 18 minutes.

• Credibility: As stated above, blogs can be very good or very bad. Good blogs help readers understand past experiences of the writer or the company. Good blogs answer questions the reader may have regarding a specific subject. Good blogs direct readers to read more from another relevant website with built in links. Good blogs help with the branding of your business. Bad blogs try to sell you a service, a product, an idea etc… Bad blogs are poorly written and irrelevant. Bad blogs assist the reader with leaving your website faster. Be real, be informative and have fun.

I’ve heard over and over again how blogs aren’t for every business, I disagree. Blogs can simply be nothing more than experiences or stories and every business has them. Do research. Read blogs. Exercise your writing skills. What will your blog cost?

The Revive Team / 919.802.0424 / Contact Us Today!

Create More Customer Conversion

With good web design, visitors should be able to quickly understand what they are seeing on a webpage without thinking about it and have easy access to all aspects of the site within 10-12 seconds.

A good web development company should follow the 12 second rule. Within 12 seconds of a unique site visitor (someone visiting the website for the first time) seeing your website, they should be able to absorb who you are and what you do. This exercise of attracting people right from the start along with simple, easy to understand navigation and engaging web content entices those visitors to ultimately contact our clients if there is a fit to do business.

Simplicity should act as a guide in all Web-based communication. Consider the following tips:

• Pick one navigation scheme, and use it throughout the site
• Make sure you think of your website visitors when writing you textual content
• Consider how people are interacting with the site… What information are they looking for most frequently? Can they find it easily?
• Keep navigation items to a minimum
• Always have a "Call to Action" within your text to help your site visitors read through your site
• Get your site visitors to contact YOU

In all electronic communications, from your website to email newsletters, the reader should immediately recognize the company, who they are, what they do and why. Make sure your business logo is large enough to see/read, but not overwhelming to the page layout. Display it prominently at the top of each webpage and newsletters. Offer quick links to the most important parts of your website. If you specialize in "ABC", provide a nicely designed button to present itself on each page so your potential customers can access "ABC" with ease.

If no one in your office has web design experience, consider hiring an experienced design firm before jumping into a large project. The Revive Team encourages “shopping around” for the best possible fit. Understand your objectives for the website and do your research on all companies you meet with. Are they giving you sound advice? There goal for you should be for the website they design to generate as much business as possible for you to see a health ROI. Convert more customers, increase profits and have a great day!

The Revive Team / 919.802.0424 / Contact Us Today!

Your First Impression, Make It Count

When others don’t personally know you or your company, how your website looks can say a lot about your business to prospective clients, existing clients and anyone else who may see the work. It’s important to make the extra effort to educate yourself about recent Web 2.0 trends when designing or re-designing you website in order to have it look its very best.

While designing a custom website, think of the page design as the framework or skeleton and the textual content and images as the finishing layers within that framework. Design decisions about the layout, typography and web copy are critical to the website’s success.

Consider the following guidelines for creating a clean, simple website:

• Webpage Layout
• Allow ample space between elements
• Follow the guidelines for good typography
• Use headings, subheadings and bullets to separate information
• Minimize the use of clip art
• Use 72 dpi, well-cropped photographs
• Use color for a specific purpose — to direct attention, create emphasis, or differentiate textual content

Each element on a webpage should function as part of the whole rather than a separate entity. This can be achieved by grouping elements or by creating obvious similarities of line, shape, or color. The end result of a balanced layout is equilibrium among the various elements that make up each webpage.

Typography & Web Copy:

• Use clean and easy to read fonts
• Keep the copy clean, simple and to the point
• Make text BOLD if you want to draw more attention
• As with webpage layouts, spacing should be evenly distributed
• White text on a Black layout is harder to read then Black text on a White layout
• Choose a main textual color and stay consistent through the website

The most important design consideration is that your website be easy to read and easy to interpret. Following good typographic and copywriting principles will increase the readability of any website. Remember, people don’t read one word at a time. Instead, they scan lines of text, reading three or four words at a glance. The type you choose should make it easy for the eye to move smoothly through the text.

Good typography and copywriting also helps organize your website by signaling levels of contentand hierarchy of information. And it helps convey meaning by telling your reader which words are most important.

For more information about typography and web copywriting, please visit the services offered by The Revive Team. We want you to stay informed!

The Revive Team / 919.802.0424 / Contact Us Today!

Taglines, Slogans and Content, OH MY!

Are you able to name the company behind such popular taglines as “Just Do It”, “The Ultimate Driving Machine”, “The Breakfast of Champions”, “Tastes Great, Less Filling” and “Don’t Leave Home Without It”?

If you didn’t have to think twice about whose taglines these are, you watch way too much television OR pay too close attention to the commercials! I’m joking. These taglines have been around for years and years and have never changed.

As stated, they’ve been almost forced into the homes across the U.S. and sometimes the World in their advertising campaigns. This is why we can name the companies who branded these taglines, as well as, many other taglines we hear daily.

Oh, the answers to the taglines mentioned above are Nike, BMW, Wheaties, Miller Lite and American Express respectively. Taglines create brand recognition, a first impression. People will remember a tag phrase, but have no idea about the company name. They are unique, yet simple. They are one of the first steps in building a brand. A good tagline is your best and cheapest form of advertising. If your company name, logo and tagline are all working in harmony, they become an ad themselves.

Taglines go anywhere and everywhere your logo goes; t-shirts, business cards, websites, radio ads, TV ads, etc… Consultants from The Revive Team stress that whatever logo and tagline you may use, keep it consistent throughout any and all marketing collateral. Keep it short. Keep it simple.

Not every business needs a tagline, but if you decide to go that route, do your homework, brainstorm, get mentally involved and ask for outside opinions. Be prepared to take positive and negative feedback and willing to revise many times. Make your tagline work for you!

The Revive Team is currently working in close collaboration with a business that needed to re-brand themselves starting with their logo, their website and their marketing collateral. When dealing with their logo, both parties toyed around with each other’s concepts for a catchy tagline to accommodate the logo. They came to a conclusion and you will be seeing their new and improved website in the next couple of weeks.

The Revive Team / 919.802.0424 / Contact Us Today!

Biz Cards and Other Marketing Collateral

Just about every employee of any business has a 2 x 3.5in card lying in a drawer, hiding in a wallet, lost in a briefcase, placed in a holder at the front desk, etc… I know too many friends who have full-time jobs, but don’t have a business card. Now why is that? Scores of people believe only the sales teams; marketing teams and the owners should have cards. How ignorant!

Business cards are often one of the most underutilized tools in one’s marketing. Use the front and back of your business card to gain full benefit. Depending on your market you can put some very valuable information on the back such as a sports schedule, list of services, emergency numbers, or special dates people want to remember.

Creatively distribute your card. When you eat out you can leave one with the tip or ask if you can place some near the register. If you borrow a library book, use one as a book mark and leave it in a page upon return. Hand them to clerks in stores who may know other people who could use your product or service. I saw an episode of "Wife Swap" where the husband was a residential real estate agent and everywhere he went, he had a stack of cards in his pocket handing them out to random people like candy. Why? Because he can and wants people to know who he is, what he does and how to contact him... genius!

When someone gives you their business card be sure to enter their information in your database. Send them a short note or email within 48 hours of meeting them to keep your name fresh in their mind. If you forgot to mention something during the initial contact, send them a link to your website for more information. MAKE YOUR BRAND COLLATERAL WORK FOR YOU?

Speaking of websites… have you considered your website to be a business card? An oversized, user friendly and visually stimulating business card? If not, you should.

Think about it this way. You’ve invested time, energy and money into your business. You’re trying to attract new customers. You’ve hired the best person for a specific job. Here’s the thing, those employees who are leaving their business cards all over town only work a set amount of hours. A website acts as your 24 hour sales representative. Ready to welcome site visitors, receive comments, capture information, record online sales and always able to make your business look great, no matter what time of day. How cool is that!

Business cards will always be necessary, so be sure to carry them with you wherever you go and be willing to hand them out as opportunity presents itself. Revisit the idea of how well your website is working for you and always get an outside, second opinion. Your website is the biggest business card you can have. IS YOUR WEBSITE WORKING FOR YOU?

The Revive Team / 919.802.0424 / Contact Us Today!

Common Online Marketing Mistakes

There are methods which exist to successfully create a profitable future for your business. Majority of the time, businesses see virtually no result from their investments after spending money on advertising. In many cases, one or more crucial mistakes are made when trying to expand your market presence and brand within the community or region.

Many things can go wrong or not be successful when marketing your business, but I wanted to share a few which I feel are most important when dealing with the company website.

#1: Not Having a Website
Research indicates, 70% of all products are researched or found on the Internet. If your business is not online, you cannot capture your share of the millions of dollars exchanging hands online everyday. However, just having a web site will not necessarily increase your revenue.

#2: Type of Site
Most commercial websites are designed as destination sites. What this means is, they are an online brochure or fancy electronic business cards. The main objective for all business websites should be to generate and capture leads. This can be accomplished with online forms, Free Quotes, surveys/questionnaires or anything where you can get that site visitors Name, Phone Number and Email. This tactic increases people contacting you because they don’t have to pick up the phone and call or stop by the office. They want YOU to contact THEM!

#3: Type of Content
Most websites have several pages talking about the company to try and promote the business. All of this information does not give people a reason to request your services. When you are searching for information online, do you expect to get to it as quick as you can? Are you looking for something in particular? Your prospects are also looking for information. You must be a resource for information in order to get people truly interested in your services.

#4: The Developer
How many of you have a cousin or friend who has some knowledge of the Internet and can “build you a website”? Do they understand how dynamic the internet truly is and how to make it work for the business? Are they just designing something and that’s all? Do they understand web marketing? Do they work with a service provider who is capable of hosting your site? Do they have all the tools necessary to make the transition seamless, and can they provide all of the programs for success? There are many more questions I could ask, but I think you get the point I’m trying to make. Educate yourself and choose the designer/developer who has experience, man power and expertise in order to provide the best solution for your needs.

#5: Marketing and Promotion
Does the vendor you chose have a system in place to provide your company with the exposure you need? Are they providing reports to show how your money is working for you? Using a combination of traditional marketing (radio, TV, magazine ads, flyers, business cards, etc) and online marketing (Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search Marketing, email campaigns, etc) should increase your success and provide you a greater number of qualified leads. Get them to your site, keep them on your site and have them contact YOU!

#6: Accountability & Reporting
“If it can be measured, it can be improved” has become a popular mindset in the business community. Proof of your marketing dollars working for you is one of the most efficient ways to keep track of where business is coming from. To stay ahead of your competition a smart business owner should ALWAYS be aware of his marketing spend. If you do not track the effectiveness and success of your methods and strategies, how do you know what truly works? To maintain your competitive edge you must be able to track your progress and make the appropriate decisions to hold you marketing vendors accountable for producing business.

#7: No Way to Harvest Pre-Qualified Leads
A truly effective website must have a way to gather qualified leads. Many websites do not have ways and means to collect the information needed to determine if a prospect is kicking the tires or wants to do business. How would it affect your bottom line if you started each day with qualified requests from potential customers? Why not make technology work for you? This creates the infrastructure multi-million dollar companies have been using for years in their success.

The Revive Team / 919.802.0424 / Contact Us Today!