Stuff I Love is sort of like Oprah’s Favorite Things without the freebies (sorry). This is part 1 in a multi-part series, we’ll post the next one when we have more stuff we love.

Freshbooks

I love Freshbooks because they took the mundane but necessary task of accounting and made it fun and simple. I tested a number of accounting/invoicing systems and before we decided on Freshbooks—I think they nailed it. Freshbooks provides the right amount of features for the right price. Xero was also a great system with a gorgeous GUI, but it was overkill when it came to the needs of our business.Ballpark and The Invoice Machine are elegant solutions, but a little overly simplistic for us. We wanted the ability to run a variety of reports and Freshbooks had a bunch of options. If you decide to try it out, use this sticker below so I get the credit!

Basecamp

Project Management is a major part of my daily work and it is critical that the entire team is on the same page, including the client. Over the years I tested many project management tools including ones that have to be installed on the server, however, nothing comes close to the simplicity and intuitiveness of Basecamp. In fact, I’ve been using Basecamp for over 4 years and are still just as happy with it as the day we signed up. And since it lives in the cloud, they are always making updates and enhancements to the service. If you’ve never used it, take it for a spin below and see what you think.

Website Grader

Have you ever wondered how well your website is doing or if it is search engine friendly? Website Grader from HubSpot offers a great tool that allows you to run a report on your website. It gives you key information regarding your page’s title tags, metadata, alt tags, and more. I ran this on our website a couple years ago and learned a lot about what we were doing wrong. I even use it to help our clients understand how they can make their websites more effective. Click here to try out the demo version.

I have many more things I love, however, I also love my work and must get back to my clients. Feel free to tell me about the things you love and I’ll check them out. Until next time…

Enjoy!

AIGA | Why Design?

Did you know that your Facebook Fan page image can be up to 200px wide by 600px tall?! By having an image this size on your Fan Page you can add more detail and interest to your Fan Page.

We’ve provided a convenient Photoshop template for you to download and create your own supersized fan page image! Just click on the download button to the right and start customizing. Be sure to hide the guide layers before you save your image.

Download Here: http://www.studio22.com/facebook-fan-page-template.html

Copy of the ad as seen in GD USA

Everyone has a right to protect their intellectual property, but I was quite surprised and a bit puzzled when I saw a full-page ad for Little Trees Car-Freshner in the September issue of Graphic Design USA.

The ad displayed 5 Little Tree designs and contained the following copy:

“This is privately owned property. So is this, and this, and this, and this [each with an arrow pointing to a tree]…no matter how you use it.

The footer copy contained additional legal language explaining why using the images was a bad idea and to ask for permission first.

I wondered what happened? Why would this company go to such lengths to defend their brand image? After about 15 minutes of research I discovered that some designers were using the famous tree shape in design projects such as invitations, t-shirts, and posters. Okay, so I get why they did the ad—kind of—but why so heavy-handed?

It seems to me that the Little Trees company blew an amazing opportunity to work with designers and artists, a community that could help build the brand image, by shunning them away with threatening advertisements.

What the Little Trees company could have done was turn a negative into a positive. Invite these infringers in with an international design competition? Here is my advice to the Little Trees company:

1. Create an international design competition inviting designers and artists from around the world to submit their ideas to put a new spin on the famous tree icon.
2. Attach a theme or challenge around the competition, maybe it’s Green Around the Globe, or Environmental Sustainability. Themes will help keep designers focused and allow you to market the campaign more effectively.
3. Allow the designers to mock-up the logo on many mediums, not just flat graphics. These can be art installations, merchandise, or even architecture.
4. Work with a non-profit organization like the Social Design Network or AIGA to co-sponsor the project and include a financial hook for their benefit. These organizations are experienced at engaging their community in socially responsible campaigns and can help get the word out. It will also offer instant credibility.

The intended outcome of a this campaign is two-fold:

1. become a collaborator with the design community, not an enemy of the design community
2. increase your brand awareness through custom artwork, generate ideas for new products and designs, make your products more “green”

What Little Trees did was a completely human reaction: protect what’s theirs. All too often we act in protectionism mode not thinking about the bigger picture. Will they realize greater sales because of these ads? Probably not. Unfortunately, they probably left a negative impression on most people.

I believe their attitude should have been: “This is privately owned property, come in!”

What do you think?

I heard the term “hyper-local” today in the context of news, but what about marketing? Maybe it’s time to consider marketing at the hyper-local level to build credibility, business, and local market-share? Being the top business in your industry at the hyper-local level is faster than building at a national level.

Advertisers get this and are now concentrating their advertising to smaller segments. Hyper-local. Some people may call this a niche.

Remember the claw game in Toy Story? The Claw is your business, the three-eyed aliens are your customers. When the machine is empty, move on to a new machine. Pick and choose? Hyper-local? What do you think?

In my business, I come across many images that need some work. In other words, they don’t exude confidence or even competence. Sometimes I make this snap judgement when someone passes me a business card or I stumble across a website. I realize that this isn’t a fair way to judge the quality of a business, but I’m sure I share this default technique for many, many others.

If you think your business is being unfairly judged because its image is inconsistent, consider the following 3 ideas:

Walk Like a Politician

No, I don’t mean walking the Appalachian trail (or saying you did but you really went down to South America to spend time with your mistress—alas, I digress). I’m referring to being rigid on the issue of your brand image.  This includes print material, web, social media, and in-person/voice. This is probably the one easiest things for your business to take action on if you plan.

When you are at a networking event or business function, think about the way you talk about your business. Is it consistent with how your website is written? What about the flyer you just passed out and your business cards; do they also “speak” with the same voice?

Here’s your 10 minute action plan:

• Review all of your materials (print, web, social media) and make sure they “speak” your core message. If not, make a note to adjust them accordingly. This includes bios on LinkedIn, Facebook, Yelp, and any other site you may be listed in (there are probably more than you realize, so do a Google search on your name).
• If you don’t have a talking points plan, write one and review it before every networking event and meeting. This will help keep you on point with your core message.

Red Bull Gives you Wings (and a massive headache when mixed with well-vodka, ugh!)

Your business image needs wings to give it lift. It doesn’t matter how many social media sites you’re a member of, if your not contributing to your communities or actively building them (flapping your wings), then your missing out on that lift.

Building a social network online is the same as building one in-person. When you want more business or want to become more well regarded in your business community, you join an organization like a Chamber of Commerce or other professional group and become active. These organizations build your network of potential customers, increase your social position (hopefully) in your business community, and provide you with additional leadership opportunities.

When you join an online social network, you should maintain similar goals.

Here’s your 10 minute action plan:

• Make a list of all the social network sites you’re a part of and not just the obvious ones. Industry trade sites and professional forums should all be part of your mix.
• Make a weekly participation schedule to contribute to these sites (yes, answering questions, giving helpful advice to peers, and even asking questions is networking!) You’re building professional capital here.
• Make a list of websites that have excellent (and only excellent) content for your industry and bookmark them. If you are using Twitter (duh, of course you are) to communicate, then these bookmarks will give you a well to draw from. Don’t be the person that has nothing interesting to tweet about so they link to a site that sells tie-dyed pillow cases—it’s irrelevant (unless you are in the pillow case or dye business).

If Tropicana Can’t Change Your Mind, Who Can?

Did you notice the disastrous packaging redo that Tropicana went through recently? Well, It just so happens that some suit decided to hire a firm to…ah, forget it, you can read about it here. The short version is this: they made a huge ($$$) image error in their new  package design. The once famous illustration of the dew-drenched orange impaled with a straw was now replaced with typeface straight out of the Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei and a discount stock-photo-esque glass of OJ (looks like Tang to me). The new packaging seemed better suited for Ikea then a grocery store and customers really let them have it.

PepsiCo’s blunder is important to all businesses big and small. Your image is more valuable than you are aware. The brilliant thing that Pepsi did do, but apparently was not aware of,  was design an image that was truly iconic and resonated with its customers. People form an emotional attachment with their brands as indicated by the number of “outraged” Tropicana fans.

Where do you fit into this and how do you protect your brand image?

Here’s your 10 minute action plan:

• If you don’t have a professional brand icon (logo), get one. Ask around for a good designer or hire me. Make sure your designer develops a style and usage guide. Used consistently and correctly it will work in your favor.
• If you have a professional logo, do a quick audit of your materials to ensure that  it is being used consistently across all media. If you notice discrepancies in colors or fonts, make note of them and get it fixed.
• Lastly, make sure you have continuity from print to online. Your web site, business cards, brochures, ads, etc…should all have a consistent look and feel. I know, it’s an obvious point, but I’ve seen some real Duesy’s out there.

I hope this helps. I’d love to hear about how Tropicana changed your mind?

America's best-selling car isn't what you might think...

I’ve never understood the allure that a “Best Selling” product had on buyers. What does best-selling indicate to the consumer and why do marketers use it so often? Let’s take the SUV for example. The Ford Explorer has been one of America’s best-selling SUV’s for over 10 years now, but until (very) recently, it boasted some of the worst reliability/quality ratings in its category. Yet, Ford and its dealer network still use best-selling as a value proposition in its marketing and advertising and consumers buy into it. They buy into the belief that best-selling equals best-SUV.

I don’t mean to pick on Ford, all automakers use this trick to sell more cars. In fact, it’s not just automakers. Books go on best-seller lists along with video games and vitamins and we use those lists to make decisions on what to buy. Think about this: the book with the highest sales volume suggest that it’s the best book. Buy it, read it. Why would you buy anything less than a best-seller?

This gets to the heart of American marketing and consumerism. Marketers know that people want the best for the cheapest. Best selling doesn’t suggest quality, value or reliability, only accessibility (pricing) to the largest market.

For small businesses and consultants, it’s tempting sometimes to go for the volume. You want more clients, more customer and ultimately more business. However, I tend to think more like Lamborghini: hand build only a few hundred Murciélago’s every year and never build a best-seller.