“The successful person in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which, they simply persue their vision of excellence in whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them they are always doing both.
Website Design Brisbane, Graphic Design Brisbane
Coupons, They are a not exactly a new concept – They have been around since retail was first invented though do they now possess a greater ability to deliver more than just a sale, but better search engine rankings?
I had my thinking cap on the other day when I was acquiring some stock photography. Above where I had entered my credit card details there was a little box that said coupon code. Interesting. I went to my preferred search engine and though right lets see if I can find one for this site. *Gasp* there were hundreds and hundreds of websites dedicated to providing me with a coupon code for this particular website.
I thought that this one very ordinary business model. I mean why would you ever pay full-price when you can get it for 20% less.
Then I got my head a little more around the concept.
The coupon codes for the photo site only lasted for a set period of time. This meant that for the voucher to be useful to the user, the coupon website needs to continually update it’s content and check for relevancy and accuracy.
Best of all these coupon websites provide topical information about the product and service whilst actively promoting and linking back (back links) to the source website. Brilliant for obtaining authority for search engines and increasing search engine rankings.
What are you thoughts on this theory, do you think coupons are an untold hero of search engine rankings in the retail sector?
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Brandrally ~ Web Design Brisbane | Graphic Design Brisbane
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Find us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brandrally
So you are looking for a new position or just have graduated – You have a great folio, great work experience, you’re energetic and you’re motivated – though getting employed is proving a little tricky. Here are some helpful tips to getting your foot in the door with your resume.
1. Get a decent email address.
Sure we all have fun email addresses with our mates, but mega-super-awesome-rad-dude@hotmail.com might not really be the best first-impression.
Something like your.name@hotmail.com or me@yourname.com is better.
2. Use any other than Times New Roman!
90% of the resume’s we receive use these formats – drives everyone crazy.
3. Layout and Format
This one is really important. The best thing you can do for a resume or cover letter is design it in the format of the job you are applying. If you after a graphic designer position, create your resume and cover letter through an industry appropriate application like indesign and supply it as a PDF. If you applying for a web designer position, have an online folio to showcase yourself. Most importantly print it out and see whether it is legible and looks good.
4. Be personal and specific in your cover letter.
Research a little and mention something you find unique about the company you are applying for… and perhaps involve a little flattery.
For example:
“The work you did on project x was great! I would love to work on projects of that nature and would really appreciate the opportunity to show you the great things that I can do.”
As opposed to:
“Dear Company, I greatly enjoyed your website; I thought it was forthcoming and informative. I would like a job. “
5. Spellcheck
Ensure your resume is grammatically correct and all words are spelled correctly. Designers are particular on this. A firm grasp on language is a necessity as correcting spelling mistakes on brochures / billboards can be a very costly exercise.
6. Talk about what you things you do outside of of work.
Interesting people do interesting things. Bosses really like to see active people in the community, so if are part of design association, have won awards, like to ride your bike, collect stamps – tell them about it.
7. Check your social media / blog.
It’s amazing what is out there. Reality is that most employers search for you online. Get rid of / hide awkward photo’s, bad comments by your mates, any video of you on youtube singing karaoke drunk / falling over – basically anything that you wouldn’t want your grandmother seeing. That way if an employee searches and finds you, they find only positive things.
8. Please don’t make things up!
Claim only the work that you made yourself / were a part of. It’s the nice thing to do and ultimately our industry is such where one finds out very quickly whether you can do the things you say you can.
9. Have fun and be creative.
WOW them with creativity. Be quirky. Be different. Be Fun. Be Clever. Make them laugh. Make them cry.
Get them to talk to their friends about this ‘amazing’ resume they just received.
Below is a link to an excellent article by Smashing Magazine on this topic!
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/01/10-handy-tips-for-web-design-cvs-and-resumes/
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Brandrally ~ Web Design Brisbane | Graphic Design Brisbane
Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/brandrally
Find us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brandrally
‘I remember when I first saw you”. It’s a phrase our parents say that on our 21st birthday and our partners recall this on anniversaries – but do our clients do the same? It can be a glance, it can be as quick as a handshake or the way you introduce yourself but the impressions you develop in the business world are long lasting.
The way we talk, walk, work and think all relates to our own personal brand. Controlling our image and the aspects that people perceive from us in the first 10 seconds of an introduction, has the ability to set the benchmark base-point of a relationship. If business practice tells us anything, the higher we can position a product in the market place – the better, The lower you position, the more of a battle it is to get to the top and so it is always important to put your best foot forward.
Making an impression should not necessarily mean changing the fundamentals of who you are. Iconic in both their appearances, Richard Branson and the late Steve Irwin were both the personification of a very unique recognisable personal brand. The jeans and a tee-shirt, or the khaki look, did not diminish their presence. In-fact it created it. So it is not always about being conventional, it is about being authentic.
Below are 10 quick tips to create your personal brand.
1. Be genuine
When you speak, when you listen, when you respond.
2. Don’t fall in with the crowd
If you like wearing bow-ties, wear a bow-tie. Don’t be afraid to define who you are by what you wear.
3. Smile
It has an amazing affect
4. Handshakes.
We all remember bad handshakes.
Be firm, though breaking the other person’s hand does not make you awesome.
Don’t be afraid to practice.
5. Confidence
Be proud of who you are and your ideas. Don’t be intimidated by others who seem more confident that you. Most people carry around inside the scared little boy or girl afraid of being found out. We are all in the same boat.
6. Clothes
If you look good, you feel good.
Ensure you are wearing a watch and good shoes (yes, people still look to see if you are “down at the heel”).
7. Grooming
You aren’t planning to date the people you meet, but it really doesn’t hurt to pretend that a business introduction is a first date.
Keep clean and fresh. People do remember these things.
8. Names.
Never forget a name in a conversation. Develop techniques to help you remember their name. It might be by way of asking their origins of their name, or by associating their name with someone you have met in the past. Finish a conversation with a “it was nice to have met you <Name>” – It has a lasting affect.
9 Opinions.
Have a voice and let it be heard.
Remember that giving an opinion means you must be willing to have an opinion.
10. GOOGLE yourself.
It is amazing what is out there. Google yourself – if you find something that you think is not great, contact the person who put it online and see if you can have it removed. Be polite and ask nicely, otherwise you could create more challenging information to clean up.
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Brandrally provides comprehensive design solutions by offering strategic graphic design, Web design Brisbane and Internet marketing services. Servicing clients in Brisbane, throughout Australia and internationally, we apply significant emphasis on design, strategy formulation and process and deliver successful outcomes for our clients, every time, on-time and in-budget. From Corporate Identity, through to full content managed websites, we provide professional solutions to suit your business needs.
Visit: www.brandrally.com.au
Brandrally
Address: 50 McLachlan St, Fortitude Valley Brisbane. Telephone: 1300 662 842.
Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/brandrally
Find us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brandrally
Sounds simple, Seems appropriate, though how many companies out there are victim to not being the brand that they sell!
I think we all fall into this category in one way or another. Brandrally is a company that develops brands, from the onset of our first client we became so focused on our clients’ branding and websites that our own never really became a priority. Our first year in business the company website simply displayed ‘coming soon’. This was until a good friend asked ‘why would anyone buy a website from you when your own website doesn’t exist?’ It did get me thinking, why would they? I couldn’t justify it, so before long we were online.
Being a brand that you sell, identifies you as an industry leader as your business practice and your business become one and the same. Creating trust and authenticity, it is a clear demonstration that you believe in the knowledge, advice, products and business practice that you represent. Imagine if the Mercedes CEO drove a BMW or Bill Gates did a presentation on a Mac. There are so many similar examples that we can relate this to in our everyday world from the IT company with a server that crashes all the time to the mechanic who’s car that is continually breaking down.
Sometimes budgets, resources or sheer circumstance might mean that we are not always on top of our game, though by investing in your corporate culture, it goes a long way to sustaining a successful brand and in affect a successful business.
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Brandrally – www.brandrally.com.au – Graphic Design / Website Design Brisbane
Coming soon, the two most frustrating words in the digital vocabulary when browsing the internet. It is like being in a theme park only to find that the ride you really want to go on isn’t actually there, it will however arrive some time after you have gone home.
The perception of having a coming soon page assumes that the person visiting your site really wants to hear what you have to say and will return time and time again to see if the information is there, the reality of this is completely the opposite – they won’t. What these pages really say is; ‘move along, there is nothing to see here’.
Coming soon pages don’t play nicely with your search engine rankings either (SEO). I mean, imagine how frustrated you would be if you searched for a particular topic in a search engine only to have all the results returned displaying ‘Coming soon’ pages. Search Engines know this, they make our requests as relevant as possible, which means they need it to be relevant and they need it to be online.
From time-to-time situations might require a place-holder page. By taking the time to ensure that information on a page is helpful and informative will means visitors will have a positive browsing experience, and isn’t that we all want for our websites?
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Brandrally provides comprehensive design solutions by offering strategic graphic design, Web design Brisbane and Internet marketing services. Servicing clients in Brisbane, throughout Australia and internationally, we apply significant emphasis on design, strategy formulation and process and deliver successful outcomes for our clients, every time, on-time and in-budget. From Corporate Identity, through to full content managed websites, we provide professional solutions to suit your business needs.
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Conversation is the simplest and most effective form of marketing. For business conversation is powerful. It builds relations, it conveys trust, it endorses, resolves problems and most importantly it converts.
So what if you could have 100 conversations with 100 different networks at once all discussing your business proposition? The reality is that it is already happening. Customers, employees, neighbours, suppliers, associates, business partners and family discuss readily with their connections their experience with you and your brand.
In 2010, we live in a new landscape where our conversations extend to a digital audience – Through Blogs, Tweets, Instant Messaging, Texting, Forums and the like. So it is now more important than ever to maintain positive touch-points and experience with your audience. Good News travels fast, Bad News travels faster.
So how do we generate advocates? It is relatively simple – Fantastic acts of service create fantastic advocates. It does delve deeper than this on a corporate level. It is ensuring that business practice and development resolves around a single premise of customer engagement from start to finish.
This is achieved by:
- Bettering your product, service or offering
Listen to your customers, to the industry, adapt and adopt, be innovative, improve and lead-the-way. - Make it authentic
Keep all experience genuine. Really important. - Make it really easy
Channel experiences, by facilitating feedback and conversation. ‘Click here to tell a friend’, ‘Send this to a friend’, ‘Write below your thoughts’, ‘Digg this article’ and so on. - Capitalise
Strike will the iron is hot! If you achieve success. Facilitate, adapt and adopt – Good experiences should be developed, showcased and promoted. - Monitor, React, Engage and Respond
Thank referrers, ensure public commentary is accurate. Respond positively with negative feedback,
Not only will the above spread good word-of-mouth, it will be simply be due to good business practice.
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Brandrally provides comprehensive design solutions by offering strategic graphic design, Web design Brisbane and Internet marketing services. Servicing clients in Brisbane, throughout Australia and internationally, we apply significant emphasis on design, strategy formulation and process and deliver successful outcomes for our clients, every time, on-time and in-budget. From Corporate Identity, through to full content managed websites, we provide professional solutions to suit your business needs.
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For more information contact:
Brisbane QLD AUSTRALIA
t 1300 662 842
f (07) 3036 6260
e design@brandrally.com.au
www.brandrally.com.au
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A good topic has arisen through our branding / corporate identity work here in Brisbane – which is the role of Copyright and Trademarks and what it means for business.
Copyright is automatically assigned to a piece of original work, be it intellectual, dramatic, musical, artistic and literature when it is produced in a tangible format. In essence, copyright © grants exclusive privilege to the creator and ensures that no reproduction can be made without permission or compensation to the creator.
Protecting one’s copyright is important. Equally important is the ‘tangible’ word of the above paragraph. An example of this played out earlier this year in the courts relating to Alex’s Lloyd’s use of the lyrics for the hit song ‘Amazing’. In which, Mark O’Keefe alleged that it was he himself who wrote the song on the back of beer-coasters in a pub in 1991. Mark then alleges that he himself handed the words to the song on the coasters over to Lloyd to finish the song. The tangible evidence was missing in this case, and as such there was no-way of proving ownership in favour of Mark.
The next role in protecting intellectual property falls into the category of Trademarks. When a product is first to market it must be an ™ Unregistered Trademark. Only once it is in use, can a trademark become a fully-fledged ® Registered Trademark.
Trademarks are defined either by a word, phrase or symbol used in commerce in conjunction with a product or service. They indicate the source of a product and prevent other people or businesses from a using a mark that could be confused with the original. An excellent example of a trademark is the Nike ‘Swoosh’, the phrases such “Just do it”, and the word itself. When I traveled overseas, I remember walking past a store that was selling ‘Mike’ tee-shirts, in the logo-type of Nike, with ‘Just did it’ and an upside-down swoosh. Definitely some serious Trademarking infringing happening in that instance, and fashion police should arrest the person who would have eventually bought that tee-shirt.
Trademarks do not however prevent others from creating the same product or service and promoting them under a new name. Where unique technology, design, or ideas are involved – Patents are created to protect this form of intellectual property.
For further information regarding Branding, Copyright and Trademarking, Contact Brandrally. Telephone: 1300 662 842.
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Brandrally – 50 McLachlan St, Fortitude Valley 4006 Brisbane QLD AUSTRALIA
Think of a really successful business. A business that is just great, works well and looks good. Questions; can you draw /describe their logo? Sing their jingle? Or repeat their company tag line?
It is no surprise that you are able to perform the tasks above, because large corporations spend millions of dollars in advertising encouraging you to do so.
Creating a specific look and feel is important because it is the goal of business to be instantly recognizable and subsequently engrained in a consumer’s mind. A logo or name is in essence a business proposition: Buy me. Sell this. Believe. Disbelieve. Love. Hate.
In a glance, we can sense whether we support a company based purely on what we see. Good branding provides clear communication as to who a business is, what it represents, and its goals and outcomes.
This is all done so that we can feel that we are personally connected to a product or service as it endorses our personal beliefs and value systems. In essence a brand is the touch-point to which we connect with a product, service, location or idea.
Branding is an investment. What is put into the development, marketing and advertising of a brand will eventually be what will come out of it. A logo and name will resonate, embedded in the mind of a consumer so that Nike can ‘just do it’; more ‘two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, pickles, cheese, onion on a sesame seed bun’ will be eaten and; Valvoline – we will know what it means.
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Tips for selecting the right company to design your brand
- Do they have good branding for themselves?
- Do they ask what your business goals and desired outcomes are?
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Brandrally provides comprehensive design solutions by offering strategic graphic design, website design and Internet marketing services. Servicing clients in Brisbane, throughout Australia and internationally, we apply significant emphasis on design, strategy formulation and process and deliver successful outcomes for our clients, every time, on-time and in-budget. From Corporate Identity, through to full content managed websites, we provide professional solutions to suit your business needs.
For more information contact:
50 McLachlan St, Fortitude Valley 4006 Brisbane QLD AUSTRALIA
t 1300 662 842
f (07) 3036 6260
e design@brandrally.com.au
www.brandrally.com.au
