Using New Media to Meet Your Small Business Goals: Part 3

Generating leads is a goal of almost every business and there are several new media options available that help deliver new contacts. Twitter is an obvious choice but many businesses overlook the true power it offers. Not only can you accumulate followers who will receive your updates, but also you can actively network by using twitter’s search functions. A company that specializes in catering might search the phrase “Charlotte Wedding” or “Charlotte Event” and reply to any applicable comments. Again you want to be careful that you don’t abuse this process by being too sales heavy. Think of it as introducing yourself at a party or gathering... after all it is social media.

This is the third in a series of articles covering the topic of new media for the small business. For the complete article please visit www.workingcharlotte.com or pick up a copy of the May 2010 issue of Working Charlotte Magazine.

About the Author - With over 15 years in the Charlotte design community Joe Burroughs brings a range of skills to the table. He has a bachelor’s degree in Communication with a concentration in Advertising from Appalachian State University and a masters of Science in print media from the prestigious Rochester Institute of Technology. He currently chairs the graphic design department at King’s College and is a sought after lecturer on various design topics. Joe is on the cutting edge of new media in the Charlotte community helping retailers and businesses cope with social networking and search engine marketing among other issues. Joe recently accepted the position of New Media Specialist with CGR Creative an advertising agency located in the South End area of Charlotte.

Using New Media to Meet Your Small Business Goals: Part 2

If your business has the ability to create videos of the services you provide youtube is a great tool. If you question the ability of youtube to create brand awareness simply search the phrase “Will it blend?” in your favorite search engine. This will undoubtedly lead you to Blendtec’s website. The buzz for this brand was created by simple yet funny viral videos uploaded to youtube. There is no way to assure your business will create the next viral phenomenon but it is a great way to capture Internet surfers who are already looking for products and services similar to yours.

This is the second in a series of articles covering the topic of new media for the small business. For the complete article please visit www.workingcharlotte.com or pick up a copy of the May 2010 issue of Working Charlotte Magazine.

About the Author - With over 15 years in the Charlotte design community Joe Burroughs brings a range of skills to the table. He has a bachelor’s degree in Communication with a concentration in Advertising from Appalachian State University and a masters of Science in print media from the prestigious Rochester Institute of Technology. He currently chairs the graphic design department at King’s College and is a sought after lecturer on various design topics. Joe is on the cutting edge of new media in the Charlotte community helping retailers and businesses cope with social networking and search engine marketing among other issues. Joe recently accepted the position of New Media Specialist with CGR Creative an advertising agency located in the South End area of Charlotte.

Using New Media to Meet Your Small Business Goals: Part 1

Most small businesses have several common goals first they would like to create brand awareness, next they want to generate leads, and if they have a website they want it to be more visible. New Media can help meet all of these goals. This article will examine new media channels that can help small businesses achieve these goals and more.

One of the greatest free ways to generate brand awareness and connect with clients is facebook. It allows you to create a personal profile and from that generate a company or business page where people can become fans. Through this facebook “Fan Page” your business can create events, send invitations, update information on products or services, and upload pictures, share videos, and more. This also allows you to create links back to pages within your website which can increase your site’s rankings with the major search engines. A word of caution here: do not make all your communication sales based. The power of new media is not direct sales instead it is building relationships. In order to be successful you must constantly consider what value your content brings your audience and how you can leverage that value into building relationships. Only then can it lead to increased brand awareness.

This is the first in a series of articles covering the topic of new media for the small business. For the complete article please visit www.workingcharlotte.com or pick up a copy of the May 2010 issue of Working Charlotte Magazine.

About the Author - With over 15 years in the Charlotte design community Joe Burroughs brings a range of skills to the table. He has a bachelor’s degree in Communication with a concentration in Advertising from Appalachian State University and a masters of Science in print media from the prestigious Rochester Institute of Technology. He currently chairs the graphic design department at King’s College and is a sought after lecturer on various design topics. Joe is on the cutting edge of new media in the Charlotte community helping retailers and businesses cope with social networking and search engine marketing among other issues. Joe recently accepted the position of New Media Specialist with CGR Creative an advertising agency located in the South End area of Charlotte.

What flavor coffee do you like? Ummm... Coffee flavored?!?!

Can someone explain the obsession with making coffee taste like everything except coffee? I am not talking about Starbucks or coffee houses in general here I'm talking about in workplace break rooms. Our coffee selection at work is like the freaking United Nations! We have "International" flavors like French Vanilla, Irish Cream, Colombian Mocha, Hawaiian Kona Floral, Belgian Chocolate, & Dutch Cocoa. These are all awful by the way. We also have Amaretto, Hazelnut, and Caramel flavors to choose from. Also awful. Then there's the Signature Blend... you know, our vendor's basic coffee flavored coffee. This is decent. OK, it's awful too but at least it's not pretending to be something else.

I realize this phenomenon is not limited to coffee, we have ice cream, milkshakes, etc. In fact there seems to be a dairy component to the whole thing. In fact a lot of these non-coffee dairy products try and taste like... Coffee!?!?

I also realize that plenty of people like these products and that if they weren't popular they wouldn't sell and so on. So I've decided to become part of the problem...

Waterbutter! Watermelon flavored butter will be on the shelves shortly at your local mega-mart.

I'm working on getting it packaged in tiny watermelon shapes wrapped in foil for fine restaurant applications but there have been a few consistency issues.

I'll be uploading recipes and the like shortly so keep your eyes peeled!

Staying Busy: staying sane

I have been especially busy the past few weeks and I have pretty much enjoyed every minute of it until the last few days. Since Tuesday evening everything seemed to go wrong. It was mostly an overwhelming amount of minor stuff like software and Internet issues that caused me to redo things 3 or 4 times, or phone conversations where I was misunderstood. The point is that by Friday I needed a break.

That's where Julio and the guys at CGR Creative came in. I showed up just after 4 and they were all grinding out work. Jason was finishing up a brochure for a Veteran's charity, Purple Heart Homes, Tay was tweaking some new content for Security Guard Exchange's website, and Julio was calling back a client that was having issues with another creative agency.

They saw me walk in and Julio said, "Hey let's wrap up and grab a bite." Evidently he had had a bad day as well. Long story short Julio took us all out to Vinnie's for wings, oysters, and frosty beverages! I can't tell you how great it was to sit down with those guys and share the weeks ups and downs. I'm very lucky to have the life I do and especially the friends I have! Thanks guys!

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I Wrote a Book This Week: sort of...

Actually it took three weeks from finding out the textbook I had previously ordered was out of print until my book, Projects for Design, was published. It may be the shortest textbook ever written, but it is done!

I owe a big thanks to the students who were kind enough to let me use their work as examples. I have been lucky enough to have many talented designers in my program over the years.

The blurb for Projects for Design defines it as, "A graphic design workbook featuring projects like corporate identity packages, postcards, newsletters, book jackets, magazines, and more." It basically, "Leads designers through these projects and gives them full color examples to help explain and inspire."

I am already working on my next book and hopefully it will be slightly more impressive. The working title is "After the Sketch" and it covers a series of projects that use a combination of traditional art techniques and modern graphic design skills. I am taking my time on this one and I fully expect it to be more substantial than Projects for Design.

Random Stuff: what's been going on

Let's see since I got back from Cancún I've been pretty busy. The new job at CGR Creative is great. I'm working on more creative projects than I have in a long while. Teaching is also going well, the January - February term just ended and I'm pretty excited about the new classes. Web design and animation are always pretty fun subjects. I am putting the finishing touches on a text book for the desktop publishing course... actually everything work related is going pretty well. In fact CGR is up for a new certification... very hush-hush but I'm pretty sure we're gonna be the country's first... hmmmm.... better not jinx it.

In other news I'm running again (4.5 miles Saturday) and I'm back to cooking more. I do love being in the kitchen. Last night I grilled flank steak and steamed some green beans, tonight I'm thinking BBQ chicken with grilled broccoli.

I still have another video to splice together from the Cancún trip but sadly time is at a significant premium right now. I'll try to get it up soon... wait... that sounds bad.