July Calendar: Desktop Wallpaper

Every month we want to share with you a free desktop wallpaper featuring that months calendar and unique art. Besides the month being displayed and the calendar, the backgrounds will have minimal images/design, and will be blurred allowing you to have a clean and organized desktop screen! 

Click on the link below to download July's wallpaper! Enjoy!

July 2014 Calendar Wallpaper

Web Design Sticker Shock: Adobe Muse is the Answer

Web design sticker shock: Adobe Muse is the answer 

By Yetta Blair 

You know your business website needs to be updated.  It looks like something built during the 70’s.  Photos, design and colors are all outdated.  You have added new services and products that aren’t represented on your website and staff members who have moved on are still listed as active employees.  But, after contacting a few web design firms you are stuck in sticker shock.  You want your updated site to be professionally designed, creative, cool and fresh, but do not want to spend an arm and a leg doing it. There is a solution.

Find a design firm that offers web sites developed with Adobe Muse.  

Adobe Muse is a very good option for small businesses, medical groups, churches, non-profits, musicians and more, yet few Louisville design firms are offering this option to their clients. 

Adobe Muse is a graphic designer’s web tool.   It is focused on allowing graphic designers to create websites without having to write any code. This saves time and money without sacrificing creativity, and sites being developed with Muse are fresh and unique looking. 

Many small businesses have past experiences with tools that make Web design simple enough for those who aren’t developers. Disgotech and GoDaddy are two that come to mind. These products put Web design in the hands of the masses, but it has quickly become easy to identify a site that is developed using one of these services and by someone without graphic design skills.  One thing about Adobe Muse that stands out to me is that sites designed with Muse are not immediately obvious. 

I do believe there is a time and place for everything and Adobe Muse is not the best option for all website developments.  Some websites may require a developer to use HTML/CSS.  I get that.  The parameters of the project support this type of development. But, there are some projects where the requirements can be met or exceeded using Muse and at a cost savings to the client.  I see that as just smart business.

Muse is the new cool kid on the block and if you are looking for a professionally designed, high quality website at a reasonable price, consider talking to a firm that offers sites designed in Muse.

Communicating Why You Are Different Can Build Your Business

Communicating Why You Are Different Can Build Your Business

By: Yetta Blair

The most powerful marketing strategy is not social media, direct mail, television, or publicity.  It is instead, uncovering and then communicating what makes your business different from every other business that says they do what you do.

If you want to build your business and increase sales, a good place to start is answering these two basic questions; why should customers choose your business over the competitor and have you adequately communicated what makes you different to your customers?

Why should a customer choose your business over your competitor?

When trying to figure out why a customer should choose you over the other guy, start by looking for ways to claim a unique point of difference over your competition. Some clues to uncovering your difference could be looking at your best clients and figuring out what elements exist with them.  You could even ask them why they chose to work with you, why they stay with you and why they refer you.  You can also consider asking yourself the following questions: 

Product/Service:  Do you offer a product or service that is unique and trendy that only your business is associated with that offering? 

Market or Niche:  Have you carved out an industry and become the dominant player in that industry? 

Customer Service:  Do you offer unmatched customer service?  Do you go above and beyond a customer’s expectations? 

Guarantee: Do you offer a guarantee so strong that no one else in your industry is willing to match it? 

Pricing: Do you offer better value in pricing? People who buy professional services want a professional so providing professional services at a fair price that is value driven (not necessarily the cheapest), is a good way differentiate yourself from the competition.

Do your customers know why they should choose your company?

Once you have figured out what differentiates your business from the other guy, all your advertising and promotional materials should be centered around communicating that difference.  You can’t expect your customer to seek out and know the difference.  You need to tell them. And keep telling them. Over and over again, you should tell them. Here are a few ideas to consider when getting your message out:

Create an infographic.  Since 90% of buying decisions are influenced by visual factors, don’t forget to promote your message with visuals that grab your customer’s attention.  An infographic can be a fun way to do this. 

Include it on your website.  Sounds simple, but you don’t want to forget this option even if it means an update to your site. 

Social Media Engagement.  Create a dialogue with customers about what makes you unique using your social media platforms.  

"70% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than ads." 

Content Marketing. Content Marketing is a compelling way for a business to get what is unique about them in front of their customers.  With content marketing you can engage readers with relevant articles that educate and at the same time, entertain and deliver value.  You can create a company magazine to engage in content marketing along with a blog.  Both complement each other perfectly and by offering content in both print and digital formats, your message can reach your customers wherever they are.   

What The New Twitter Profile Has to Offer

Visuals have become increasingly important in social media and now Twitter, an information and text-heavy platform, has updated its look to one that focuses on a more visual user experience.  Here are some of the top features of the new Twitter profile update, including the proper dimensions to use. 

This update is now available to all users on Twitter. Updating your profile will give you a more professional look and show that you are active and up to date on social media. Click HERE to get it.

Best Business Practices when using Twitter

Best Business Practices when using Twitter 

By Sarah Gaither

With over 200 million users generating well over 200 million tweets a day, keeping your company’s message in front of your audience is easier than you think.  We have complied a list of guidelines to help business' get the most out of their corporate twitter account.

1. Know What Twitter Is: Twitter is a real-time information network. What does that mean?  It means that as soon as you post something to Twitter the people online at that time are going to be the people most likely to see it. 

2. Clearly Define Your Objectives:  It is important to have clearly defined objectives.  Do you want to highlight content, spark action, or encourage awareness of an issue?  Clearly defined objectives will help your company use Twitter to meet your larger communication goals. 

3. One Voice: Many companies have two or three people in charge of attempting to run their social media platforms.  We recommend having one profile manager to be your voice.  One person in charge means that your company will have:

Regular content: This keeps your followers engaged in what you have to say.  We encourage companies to consider posting at least once a week.

A Consistent Voice: It’s hard for three people to have one consistent voice.  

Accountability: When Tweeting for a company it’s good to know who had made the comment when issues arise.

4. Engage: As with any communication from your company, engaging with your audience(s) is important. It allows you to develop relationships and communicate messages that prompt them to take action.

This means following people that have similar interest in the community, other businesses that would have interest in your product, or businesses that you have an interest in their product. 

It also means actively re-tweeting things that your followers have tweeted that you think your followers would have an interest in. 

Consider holding twitter events.  Twitter events encourage followers to participate in conversations about your priority topics. 

5. Keep Your Content Short and Simple: Even though you have 140 characters to get your message across, we recommend only using 120 of them.  This allows room for your followers to re-tweet and, quote the tweet without having to edit it! 

6. Conduct Promotion Activities: Ongoing promotion of your Twitter profile is strongly recommended.  Promotion Tips Include: 

Cross-Promote on other social media and web channels.  For example, use your Twitter page to promote your Facebook page and vice versa.

Consider Twitter advertising to increase the number of Twitter followers. Before committing to any advertising consider your budget, target audience, and objective before beginning a Twitter advertising initiative.

7. Don’t Forget The Goal: The step that even the best social networking companies forget, is to set a goal and then evaluate your process and progress every few months.  Having that goal allows you to see if the efforts that you are making are proving to be fruitful.  If they are, that’s great.  If not, you can adjust.