Morrison Sign Company

Located in Columbus, Ohio, the Morrison Sign Company has created a new website for their business.  The website for this company effectively promotes their products and services. The portfolio page in particular displays photos of their work in a creative manner. Flash animation adds interest to the website as well.

NEX Transport

Website design is important in building a brand identity. NEX Transport, an Ohio-based international contract packaging, distribution and export company, has created a new website to display their services to the shipping industry. Flash animation was used to enhance the website and the opening is great.

Lawhon & Associates

An Ohio-based environmental engineering services, Lawhon & Associates, created a cool website for their business.  The company brand is established with prominent logo placement, good color palette and Flash animation.  It’s rare to see an engineering firm with a bright looking website.

iPhone Ushers in New Era in Mobile Surfing

Is your website ready to be viewed on a mobile phone? The next generation Apple iPhone, scheduled for release this June, may replace some laptops used for mobile surfing. Through a new Software Development Kit (SDK), Apple is allowing 3rd party developers to write custom applications for the iPhone. The iPhone currently networks with many social networking websites such as Facebook and users can download music and movies from iTunes. Not only will many individuals want a new iPhone, they will want to be seen in coffee houses and shopping centers using them to surf the Internet. Apple expects to sell over 10 million phones by the end of this year. Over 280 million cell phones for all manufacturers shipped in the first quarter of 2008 alone.

Redesign Your Website or How to Succeed in a Recession

Warren Buffett was quoted yesterday as saying that the US economy is in a recession. One indicator is that consumers and businesses are buying less products and services. And even though he mentioned the “R” word. Buffett wrote in a Friday letter to Berkshire Hathaway. “Despite our country’s many imperfections and unrelenting problems of one sort or another, America’s rule of law, market-responsive economic system and belief in meritocracy are almost certain to produce ever growing prosperity for its citizens,” Zig Ziglar, a famous sales motivational speaker, says that when some people believe that we are in a recession, depression or down economy, he chooses not to participate.

Now is an excellent time get motivated. There are limitless opportunities for your business on the Internet. Take a look at your website. Is it working for you? Is it bringing you new prospects? If not, then it’s time to redesign your website. Your website is an important marketing tool and website design is important to establish a brand for your business online. By redesigning your website, you have the opportunity to cost-effectively:

- Reintroduce your company to customers and prospects
- Present new products and services
- Freshen-up all of the copy
- Take new photos
- Add animation and video
- Develop database applications

There are many articles and examples on this blog that can guide you through the redesign process. So stop whining about the economy and take control of your company’s branding process. 

Super Bowl Commercial Top 5, Number 4

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Number 4, Tide developed a creative Super Bowl commercial and website for their Tide-to-Go product. The commercial starts with a basic job interview. However, the employer cannot hear what the candidate is saying because a stain on the candidate’s shirt is speaking at the same time and interrupting the whole interview process.

I found this spot to very funny and original. It is one of the best Super Bowl commercials this year in featuring the product’s main benefit, which is to remove stains. As a theme, ‘Silence the stain instantly’ could be better, but there is a great website tie-in for the product as well.

17 Reams of Copy Paper Equals 1 Tree

How do you market your company? Most businesses use brochures, sales sheets, reports and a wide variety of printed materials. The paper that these items are printed on comes from trees. Fortunately, trees are a renewable source and more paper is being recycled every year. But how can you help the environment, conserve paper and stay in business all at the same time? The first step is to find out how much paper your company uses with its printed materials. A website called Conservatree has put together information with statistics related to printing and paper usage. Below is a brief summary you can use to calculate paper usage.

- 1 ream of copy paper (500 sheets) uses 6% of a tree
- Nearly 17 reams of copy paper uses 1 tree
- A 16-page brochure (5,000 copies) uses almost 5 trees

The next step is to create a dynamic new website and warehouse all of your marketing materials online. Sales sheets could become PDF files that you can link from your website or send to clients via email. Reports can come alive through Flash animation. Annual reports can be customized for each viewer with a database application. Think about the new generation of prospects coming into the market. With cell phones, laptops, and wireless connection, they are online gurus. So moving your marketing online isn’t just saving the planet, it’s good for your business. Create a new website and save a tree or two.
 

Add Video to Your Website to Engage Your Audience

In the context of marketing and advertising, words use only one of our senses, our eyes. A voice over also uses only one of our senses, our ears. It is only video that engages both our eyes and ears. And the way to capture the attention of your target audience is to engage more than one of their senses. It’s the reason that companies such as Anheuser-Busch will spend 2.6 million dollars for one 30 second spot on the Super Bowl this year. It works.

Your business can use this marketing advantage by adding video to your website. Think about creating a 30 second commercial about your business and put it on your Home page. If you have a product, demonstrate the benefits and features in a short video spot. If you have a service and it can’t be described in a brief video, break the narrative into segments like chapters in a book. Create a simple navigation that make it easy for the user to view your videos.

Because the video should be professionally produced, hire a marketing firm to identify your brand identity, write a tight script and produce your business video. There are many methods to encode and upload the final video to your website. You can also use the free services of YouTube to upload and host your business video and link back to your website. The fact is that you don’t have to spend 2.6 million dollars to create a great video for your website. Get started and get your target audience excited.

Apple Commercials Attract Visitors To Website

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Apple is one of the top brands in the minds of their target audience. Their TV commercials quickly point out the difference between themselves and their competition. A large number of consumers go to the Apple website soon after viewing one of their (very funny) commercials. You can take a page out of Apple’s playbook by re-energizing your company’s brand image. Attracting more visitors to your website begins with good website design, SEO and creating effective marketing and advertising vehicles as well. Build a better brand in the mind of the target audience and you will attract a large audience to your company’s website.