biznik

biznik article of the week

| heather parlato

Social Media: Is Your Brand Talking or Listening by Matthew B. Olson

more good info on how to create personal interactions for your business in social media. olson gives good advice on listening to your customers and their participation online, creating rapport, and ways you can turn them into brand evangelists on your behalf through solid customer relations. still think social media won’t benefit your business? he also addresses 2 common excuses for why businesses don’t think they need to be participating online.

biznik article of the week

| heather parlato

Collaborate & Conquer: Finding Success At The Intersection Of Business And Design by Ken Peters

peters does it again with an excellent article about what happens when great business ideas join forces with accomplished brand designers. one of the main reasons i focus on identity development is the challenge of effective storytelling that sheds new light on someone else’s vision & passion. if the quotes from leading authors in forward-thinking marketing don’t have you convinced of how much more value is added to your efforts with good design, this article puts forth a case study of how fedex worked with landor associates to become a household name. enjoy!

biznik article of the week

| heather parlato

Twittetiquette: Twitter dos and don’ts for business success by Arden Clise

i mix in a lot of different circles, some of which are all over social media, while others are still asking themselves “why would anyone want to read what i’m doing every minute and how/why would it help my business?” i try to give the twitter run-down anytime i can, because there is so much to the various social media networks out there, and i think very little of it is ever mundane play-by-play reportage on daily events. if you still need the basic primer of what twitter is, how to approach it and how to seamlessly integrate, follow the steps in clise’s article and you’ll be well on your way. and while you’re at it: add me!

biznik article of the week

| heather parlato

Hey, October is Self Promotion Month! by Rebecca West

maybe you’ve started to notice a little surge in business activity once the season changed? october is the beginning of the 4th quarter and the big lead-in to the holidays, so it’s time to start those year-end pushes in the promo department. west outlines 6 points of self-promotion you can use at all these mixers and networking events that keep popping up on the calendar.

biznik article of the week

| heather parlato

The Most Critical Factor in Your Business Success by Ken Peters

in a nutshell: i’m glad peters wrote this article, because now i don’t have to. from a brand design perspective, sometimes we forget to explain in detail how design influences a brand experience [because we live it] but peters puts it all out for you. consider a strong brand design an investment, build it into your budget, and then choose the right designer to make it happen.

biznik article of the week

| heather parlato

Why Hiring a Freelancer Saves Money by Candice Adams

every time the economy slumps, layoffs abound, and businesses & budgets can only pay for what they need as it comes, the opportunity for freelance work increases. i’ve watched it happen twice in my own career, and i think adams outlines a common scenario that many businesses go through when they can’t afford to keep the staff designers they have, or the bigger studio they used to hire. unfortunately, i’ve seen too many of them turn to far less-experienced in-house employees, asking them to take on 2 or 3 different job responsibilities, framed as an opportunity to grow. this panic response leaves the all-important job of marketing in a down economy in the hands of an inexperienced and likely overloaded employee at a critical time of transition.

rather than consolidate everything in-house, consider strategic consolidations that make the most appropriate use of employees, while outsourcing special-attention projects to experts in the field on an as-needed basis. indie professionals cut out salary & benefits packages, freeing up your budget to pay for their expertise and final deliverables at a much lower cost than keeping someone with half the experience or less on staff.

this is a timely article for me, since the creative freelancer conference is next week in san diego!

biznik article of the week

| heather parlato

Client and Employee Appreciation Events, To Have or Not To Have? by Janis Flagg

as a graphic designer with a lot of event design experience as well as a handful of excellent event planners & producers in my midst, i’m glad to see an article addressing what has happened to the event industry in the economy downturn. appreciation events are some of the most impactful ways to reaffirm and say thank you to the clients, vendors and employees who stick by you and your business. flagg outlines how events have multiple functions of marketing, thanksgiving, and asserting a confident position in the market with your most important supporters.

biznik articles for the week

| heather parlato

i have 2 for this week on the subject of social media and how to integrate it into your business. it seems that all the business organizations i belong to are having some sort of seminar on how to best use facebook, linkedin, twitter, etc., to their advantage. i’ve sat in on a few of these [mostly for the networking, as you can see in my blogroll, i’m already using online social networks regularly] and i’m seeing very similar reactions in every community. many small business owners are skeptical about conversion and the true value of investing time in these outlets, while others are mistakenly thinking the online communities are promising to do more for them than any really can. here are some good articles about how to use these sites and what you can expect from them.

Social Media: Strategy and Protecting Brand Identity by Michelle Bomberger

this article is a better introduction than many of the seminars i’ve attended, where they present the sites first, rather than introduce you to how you’ll be using them. when presented with technology first, many people put up a block and start to ask “why is this important to me,” when i think bomberger puts it best in saying “[online networking] relates to building relationships, just as one would in face-to-face networking scenarios.” that’s the key right there, it’s just an extension of the networking and promotion you’re already doing in person–you’re just catching different people in their preferred forum, with a consistent message across all platforms. enjoy!

It’s Not the Technology – It’s YOU, WITH the Technology by Christopher Burbridge

as a follow up, i think this article takes the emphasis off the technology and puts it back on you. with the flurry of these new networks coming on the scene, everyone is talking about them, and their importance in the grand scheme of a marketing plan is a bit conflated [which is okay for now, their current use is probably higher than it will level out to be]. while a strong presence online will certainly support your efforts, it is not the effort in itself. make sure all your marketing communications flow directly from you, the visionary, outward to all the channels that work best for you & your business.

biznik articles for this week

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The tone of your voice. (when you are talking) by Loren Weisman

this is a good article for anyone running their own business who is meeting people regularly. i am usually very comfortable talking to people, but i always have that moment of nerves before it’s my turn to introduce myself at an event or make contact with someone for the first time. weisman approaches the ins & outs of communication and how we relate to voice very clearly with good reminders of how you sound to others.

12 Steps To Your Personal Success by Joanne Victoria

here’s a bonus feel-good friday article about approaching life in the moment for more personal happiness, balance and success. it’s the simple things we already know that we often forget which allow us to get caught up in other things. take a minute to read through these and note when you’ve done some of them even this week [i’ll admit, i saw myself in a few].

have a great weekend!