While I am not an IT guy by trade, I often get asked by friends and family to troubleshoot problems with their email. Interactive design does not equal email diagnostician, but often I end up there. If you have email problems, or are the go-to-guy in your office I found an article that may help.
Exercise Your Creative Muscles Daily
originally posted at Cornett IMS Blog
Being creative is not a 9-5 job for most, but rather a way of life. Creatives are passionate, constantly striving for perfection on a daily quest for excellence. Creatives think, read and observe. A lot. We are constantly stuffing our brains with ideas and thoughts. I am sure I am not the only one who has woken out of a dead sleep at 3am, and HAD to get up sketch out a layout. While waiting at a doctor’s office or supermarket, I often browse through magazines I don’t ordinarily read to see how their industry is marketing to their consumers. Inspiration is everywhere.
My wife often jokes about what a curse it must be… not being able to look at an ad or billboard without analyzing the typeface used, the use of white space, or the pantone colors used. Quite the opposite of being a curse, it is a blessing. A blessing to be able to make a living expressing your thoughts and feelings, all the while crafting effective communications for your clients. Their success is our reward. Creativity is not just picking out colors and photography, but solving a complex objective with simple imagery.
To grow creatively, one must apply their unique outlook to everyday life, not just client projects.
Children are naturally creative and blessed with vivid imaginations. I know… I have four of them. One way I manifest my creativity daily is making up “pretend stories” with my kids at bedtime. I ask them each to select a character or element for the story, and to use their imagination. My daughter Justina (6) often selects mythical animals, such as a pink and purple polka-dotted talking Pegasus horse named Sparkles. My son Wesley (3) is partial to large shiny blue monster trucks that go fast, fast and super-fast. These trucks serve as rescue vehicles and fuels his desire to be a fireman when grows up.
My task then is to improvise a story incorporating these items. I begin with once upon a time there was a beautiful princess named Justina, and handsome prince named Wesley, then weave their selected items into a fantastic story, where their characters use their special powers for good. These stories are great teaching moments, such as Wesley using his big blue truck to pull a school bus out of the mud and save the day. He loves being a hero. Justina loves working with mythical creatures, to save animals in distress by giving them magical carrots she grew in her garden that helps hurt bunnies get well quickly. Once the story is over, they are eager to add to it with their own details. It helps me exercise my creative muscles, and allows this dad to tap into their creative minds that don’t have restrictive, pragmatic boundaries.
How do you apply creativity to your day-to-day life?
Finding Time for Social Media
originally posted at Cornett IMS Blog
To effectively use social media, you need to be engaged and have a presence with your audience on a consitant basis. How does a busy professional find time in their busy schedule to surf facebook, join the conversation on twitter or catch-up with colleagues on LinkedIN? Two words. Daily commitment.
Make a commitment to spend at least 30 minutes a day using social media. Identify your primary goals with social media whether it be self-promotion, education or conversation with your industry peers. Upon arriving at work, take 10 minutes to review recent posts and listen to the conversation that’s happening that day. Also to send new followers a personal thank you, not an automated response. After eating lunch, take 10 more minutes to scan recent tweets, retweet links that add value to your followers, or read updates from industry LinkedIn groups. At the end, take 10 more minutes to check Tweetbeep or tweetdeck to monitor your or your customers brand and how they are being discussed that day.
Admittedly, I don’t always write a blog post, or tweet up a storm every day. Some days I have more flexibility in my schedule to engage more in conversation, but I am listening every day. There are many tools available to help you monitor social media and brand monitoring. Tweetbeep, Google alerts, netvibes are only a few that help you manage your social media presence.
Finally, don’t try to learn everything there is to know about a social media at one time. Dedicate a few weeks to primarily researching how Linked IN could benefit you and your customers. The following weeks can be spent evaluating twitter and listening to the conversation there.
Effectively Using Landing Pages
originally posted at Cornett IMS Blog
Today’s advertiser expends time and energy across multiple channels to drive viewers to their website. From traditional advertising such as billboards, trade magazines and radio – to digital solutions like flash banner ads or sophisticated SEM campaigns. This takes a considerable amount of time and money to do it properly. Focus your message, and make it easy for your viewers to find what they’re looking for.
Don’t make your viewers dig for the relevant content they were searching for. Direct viewers to a landing page or specific area of your website. In some instances, directing viewers to your home page can be a missed opportunity, if they were looking for a specific promotion or service. When directing viewers to your home page, it’s considered a best practice to create a banner or prominent link that cross-promotes your promotions/offers. Again, make it easy for them to find what they’re searching for.
To better engage your viewers, create a custom landing page with more information on your promotion, and a form to capture their name, phone and email. Here’s the most important part… respond to the inquiry within 24 hours.
Landing pages offer a chance to turn a lead into a prospect, volunteer or sale. Get the most of your advertising and marketing budget by properly converting viewers that you drive to your site. Wasn’t that the goal in the first place?
