The poloDesign Blog

Picture This!

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Eric

Let’s say you’ve been given the responsibility of promoting your business, event, product, or even the place you live. After a lot of time and discussion, decisions have been made about the audience you want to reach, what message you want to present, the medium(s) you’re going to use and the style and tone you’d like to adopt.

You set to work writing what you want to say. You craft a brief, carefully worded message that hits all the key points and ends with a strong urge to action. You get one of your designer friends to take your words and create a layout that’s visually appealing, well-organized and flows nicely. As you look at your ad or promotional material you can’t help thinking that something is missing. If only you could picture what it was… And then it hits you. There are no pictures!

This images provides viewers with an excellent example of what a "Light Magicals" performance looks like on stage.

Pictures can do so much to improve the effectiveness of your promotional efforts. A picture can reinforce your message by presenting clear examples of what you’re referring to. Pictures can also set tone and communicate style while maintaining branding and visual identity. Most importantly, pictures can help draw more attention to, and develop interest in, what you’re saying. Simply put, people respond more strongly to images than they do to words alone.

The show was re-branded for 2011 and images were used to position it as a lifestyle event that featured more of Brighton's unique community.

This was the poster from the Brighton Chamber of Commerce 2010 trade show event. Visually, this isn't as eye-catching or strong as it could be.

When you’re choosing photographs look for strong images that are free of clutter. Be bold, think of unique ways of cropping (framing) a shot so that the focal point supports what your copy is saying. Where it’s appropriate, try to find images that tell a story.

Professionally-taken photographs are well-composed and suitable for use in high-quality printing.

Remember that, even though digital photography is cheap and easily available, you should consider using professionally created images whenever possible. In many cases a picture snapped with a cellphone or point-and-shoot camera will not be of high enough quality (both in composition and resolution) for printing. A professional photographer has better equipment and knows how to create compelling images that show you to your best advantage.

If you’re having an event, be sure to have someone take LOTS of pictures. If you can, hire a pro whose only focus will be on capturing images from your event. These are great for use in social media, and also to help you build a library of usable images for future promotions. If there are people in your photographs be sure to get their permission to use their likeness by having them sign a model’s release.

The next time you prepare an ad, flyer, brochure or website, remember that pictures are a universal means of expression and communication. Through pictures, you can instruct, inform, convince, entertain and evoke strong emotions as well as develop and reinforce your own branding. It may cost a little more over a strictly text-based form of communication, but the returns will more than justify the expenditure.

If you would like help in creating more effective promotional materials using strong imagery, get in touch with us at email hidden; JavaScript is required. We’d love to help.

Posted in Graphics | Tagged graphics, images, photographs, pictures, social media, social media for business, web design, website | Leave a comment

A few things about Facebook Privacy

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Eric

One of the items about Facebook which came up in our most recent Brighton Social event concerns account privacy. Many people are understandably concerned about how much of their personal information Facebook shares with others.

Facebook is continually evolving as a social media platform. Its rapid growth and adoption worldwide has required a certain amount of tinkering for it to be able to provide the services users want. Some of those changes have included making it easier and more attractive for advertisers and third party providers to have access to and profit from Facebook’s millions of users. This means sharing some of your information. Sorry folks, but it costs a lot of money to provide a free service which stores millions of photos, video clips, and remembers who’s friends are who so that you can see, “like” and comment on their thoughts instantly on your newsfeed.

The Facebook Privacy Settings Menu is accessed from the "Account" tab.

Don’t despair though, you can control how much of your personal info does get shared. In Facebook, if you go to “Accounts>Privacy Settings” you will see the various privacy options available. You can choose whether to have your info and what you share visible to “everyone”, “friends of friends”, “friends only”, or “customize”. By choosing “customize”, you can refine your settings to even greater detail such as “specific people” or “only me” so that items such as your mobile phone might be visible only to yourself.

You can also create “block lists” where you may block people or apps you don’t want to see or hear from.

Your info can be shared through friends who play games or use apps unless you change your settings.

You probably weren’t aware that your info can be shared to games and apps. Click on the “edit settings” link under Apps and websites and you can control your info settings including “Information accessible through your friends”. That’s right, you may not be playing games like Farmville or Petville, but if your friends are, your info can be passed on unless you change your settings.

As to websites, you can switch off “Enable Public Search” if you don’t want to be found on search engines such as Google. Wondering how cloaked you are with your privacy settings? Click on the “see preview” link in the “public search” menu to see your profile as others who aren’t connected to you might see it.

Of course, as with anything you do online, you should be aware of the need to exercise a little personal caution in what you say or share. It is after all the WORLD WIDE web and, despite all safeguards, anything you say out there has the potential to “go viral”.

Posted in Social Media | Tagged facebook, social media | Leave a comment

Starting a small town social media network

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Eric

This past Monday saw the well-attended launch of the first Brighton Social event. What is Brighton Social? A fun, regular meet-up where “Socialites” can talk, listen, share and learn more about using social media and other promotional tools. Our first event attracted over twenty interested people looking to increase their network of contacts and to learn new, possibly better, ways of promoting their business, organization or artistic endeavours.

In the past year poloDesign has been actively involved in teaching and preaching the value of social media tools for use in marketing and promoting small businesses in the Brighton and Quinte West area. We’ve delivered seminars and workshops through the Business Advisory Centre Northumberland and Fleming College in Cobourg about using Facebook for business. In addition to that, we’ve done one on one social media coaching and consulting with small business owners and helped them launch their own Facebook business pages.

For some time we’ve admired the focused and creative community initiatives (Creative Minds and Social Media Brown Bag) developed by our neighbours in Prince Edward County. They have done an excellent job of positioning themselves as a Creative Rural Economy attracting investment and entrepreneurs. One of the keys (we believe) to the success of those in the County has been their quick adoption and use of social media tools. For many of the new businesses and artists in the County, Facebook, Twitter and blogging play a major role as marketing and communications tools and have helped them extend their reach into markets beyond their own.

There's still a place for traditional promotional methods too, such as these postcards which we distributed in downtown Brighton.

With such a good example to guide us, poloDesign has partnered with others in our own community to create Brighton Social. Our hope is that it will serve as a useful knowledge-sharing forum and a supportive environment for those around us to collaborate and encourage each other toward greater successes. Brighton Social is a grassroots resource for those who want to dream a little bit bigger and to have fun doing it. The enthusiasm and desire present in the room for our first event were an encouraging sign.

We’d like to thank Steve and Tracey of End of the Thread Café for working with us to provide a comfortable, low-cost space to host the event. And a special thank-you goes to Ed Denning, for his support and assistance in the early stages of planning and promoting Brighton Social.

We look forward to watching Brighton Social grow and flourish in the weeks and months to come. We invite those in the community whom we haven’t reached yet to check us out and become “Socialites” as well. Our next event is Monday, May 16 at 5:00 pm above End of the Thread Café. Be sure to visit and “like” the Brighton Social Facebook page to stay informed.

Posted in Community, Seminars, Social Media | Tagged blogging, brighton, community, creative rural economy, facebook, northumberland, quinte, social media, social media for business, social media tools, twitter, using social media | Leave a comment

Is your logo “game-ready”?

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Eric

Business people who appreciate sports metaphors will probably agree with me when I say that having a good logo is the equivalent to always having your “game face” on. Your logo is probably one of the hardest working assets your business owns. In many cases your logo precedes you, offering potential clients a first point of contact for your business. When a memorable logo is used effectively, a strong recognition factor is developed to ensure your clients think of your product or service before that of your competitors.

With all that your logo can do for you, it is surprising to us that not as many people appreciate the amount of work that can and should go into the creation of an effective logo or word mark. Sadly, many people who are starting their businesses view the creation of logos and promotional materials as an expense rather than an investment. They give little consideration to what they may actually need and hire a graphic designer strictly on the basis of what it will cost.

Rather than go into a lengthy defense of graphic designers and the fees we charge, I thought I would share some recent logos we’ve done at poloDesign with a brief description of the process involved in creating a logo.

Our logo for the summer shuttle bus service connecting Presqu'ile Provincial Park and downtown Brighton.

First up is the debut of our most recent logo creation: The Brighton Bus. This is a seasonal summer shuttle service which connects Presqu’ile Provincial Park with downtown Brighton. The service has only been running a few years and each season the operators (Municipality of Brighton, Downtown Business Improvement Association, and Brighton and District Chamber of Commerce) have improved their level of service. For the coming season they wanted to develop a promotional campaign and felt they needed to create some brand identity materials beginning with a logo.

When designing a logo, a great deal of sketching happens before turning to the computer.

After initial discussions we agreed that the logo needed to be bright, colourful, lively and fun. We’re promoting a shuttle service for vacationers, not a commuter service for stressed out business people. After researching logos for other bus services, I began to work at developing three concepts to present to the review committee. The one chosen required only a few tweaks and was enthusiastically received.

It usually helps to explore a lot of different ideas.

The logo’s main colours, blue and green, complement each other, give a sense of the eco-friendliness of public transit and connect to summer at Presqu’ile Provincial Park. Green grass, blue skies and blue water, ah… summer. The red apple makes the connection to Brighton which plays host to the Apple Route throughout the year as well as Applefest in the fall. The lettering was chosen to reflect the fun aspect of being on a bus which offers a guided tour of Brighton. It came from a specific display font which was adapted slightly based on suggestions by the review committee.

The bus was something I developed through a series of sketches. I wanted to inject a lot of character into it and chose to personify it in a cartoon style. I was pleased to see members of the review committee begin to refer to it as “the happy bus” almost immediately without my prompting. I especially appreciated this since I’d used that name in my working files on my Mac. That the other people in the room began referring to it as the happy bus meant I’d hit the mark with my design.

Our logo for Star Office Group has a more serious, corporate look than The Brighton Bus logo

The next logo is for a Toronto office furniture company called Star Office Group. They specialize in selling recycled office furniture and wanted to update their existing look with a logo that made a connection to the environmental benefits of buying pre-owned. The green leaf shape and star makes the connection to recycling and the brown lettering creates an impression of solid reliability and earthiness.

Tests revealed that having the words "office group" in green text weren't displaying as strongly on the golf shirts so the switch was made to all brown text.

Although we try to design logos with as many possible uses in mind there are occasions when you may need to tweak a logo after it has been accepted by the client. Our initial version had the words “Office Group” in the same green as the leaf and star. Tests of the logo applied to golf shirts for the company uniform revealed that those words would show better if they were done in the same brown as “Star”. We made the adjustment and the logo was ready for widespread use and adoption by the company. (This will be fully revealed in the next few days when the new company website from poloDesign goes live.)

Our logo for the Brighton Barn Theatre.

Our final example is a logo for Brighton Barn Theatre. This community theatre company performs its season of shows to raise money for Proctor House Museum, a local historical attraction. The group was interested in increasing the level of branding and marketing they were doing. They had an older website that was in need of updating and contacted poloDesign to assist. We noticed immediately that they had no official logo and created the one you see here which now appears on their new website and promotional materials.

Again, we presented three concepts and worked with our clients to develop a logo which communicates a sense of who they are. The lettering was chosen to give a sense of the mix between town and country as the two seem to coexist nicely in this area. As the group performs in a refurbished barn it made sense to incorporate barn imagery into the logo. I chose to show an outline of the roof set against a darkened sky filled with stars for two reasons. The first, and obvious reason, was that this is theatre so of course there should be stars. My other thought was that the twilight sky evokes the magic and mystery of sitting in a theatre when the lights go down and you lose yourself for a little while watching the performance.

People with an eye for detail will notice, when they visit the barn, that it doesn’t actually have a hip roof as shown in the logo. I initially did two versions of the roof, one with the peaked roof as it actually appears and the adopted one which is the more traditional image for a barn roof in most people’s minds. There was a great deal of discussion about this point and it was an interesting question as to whether one should adhere to factual details or exercise some creative licence. Being actors and artists, it came as no surprise that the theatre company chose on the side of creative licence.

In the end, the most important part of designing a logo is the creative collaboration with our clients. We’re helping them to fashion an identity, their “game face” which they will display for the rest of the world to see. We work with our clients to create a unique graphic image capable of quickly communicating their business and personality.

If you’d like our help in creating your “game face”, please get in touch with us at email hidden; JavaScript is required. We’d love to help.

Posted in Community, Logo Design, Web design | Tagged branding, brighton, graphic design, graphic designer, logo, logo design, web design, website, word mark | Leave a comment

Let’s hear it for the simple things!

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Eric

Often, what gives us the most pleasure in life are the simple things. The charm of these simple things lies not only in their inherent simplicity but also in their universal appeal. Who can resist pausing to admire a beautiful sunset?

What’s even more gratifying is the randomness with which simple things occur and the ways in which they seize the imaginations of so many other people. This holds especially true on the internet. You’ve probably heard the phrase “going viral” used to describe internet phenomena which capture the interest of the public at large. Rarely can you predict the success of such things. That video? The one which everyone is watching on YouTube or sharing via email? Who knew?

We were especially happy to see something simple with the potential for a little viral spread happening for a friend and client of ours, Gina Boyd. Gina owns and operates G. Boyd Boutique in Brighton, Ontario. Her little shop carries high-fashion shoes, boots, handbags, jewelery and accessories by well known Canadian and international designers. She draws clients not only locally from Northumberland County and the Quinte Region, but also from Oshawa (where she worked for many years at GM) and the GTA. Being a good marketer, Gina always has a ready supply of G. Boyd Boutique canvas bags to send happy customers out into the world with when they leave with their purchases. That’s where the simple thing began to happen. The bags really did begin to go out into the world. Or, rather, the happy customers were taking these useful, fashion-friendly totes along with them wherever they traveled.

The G. Boyd Boutique bag was a great beach tote.

Naturally, when people travel, they take snapshots. Amongst Gina’s clients, some of these snapshots have included the G. Boyd Boutique bags appearing in exotic locales. Happily, some folks began sending these holiday snaps back to Gina. What could be simpler? As people saw this happening on Facebook, more of them wanted to play along too. We, of course, were no exception and made certain to take our G. Boyd Boutique totes along with us when we went to Cuba. They were fabulous beach bags!

The bags have also traveled to Hawaii, Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, Jamaica, the Daytona 500 and who knows where else? We expect quite a few more wonderful places are yet to come for the “travelin’ bag”. Recognizing a fun thing when she sees it, Gina has begun to encourage others to take the bag far and wide. I believe there may even be a prize in the works for the best photo.

To get your travelin’ bag and play along at this simple little game, stop in and shop at G. Boyd Boutique: 3 Prince Edward Street, Brighton, ON.

Photo by Penny Olorenshaw.

Posted in Community | Tagged brighton, facebook, GTA, holiday, northumberland, Oshawa, photos, quinte, snapshots, travel | Leave a comment

Getting away from it all

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Eric

Just over a week ago we returned from a self-imposed week-long internet black-out period. No surfing, googling, reading blogs, facebooking or checking twitter. You probably didn’t notice, did you? Okay, so it wasn’t a total blackout, we did check emails a couple of times to make certain our business wasn’t crashing and burning without us.

Poolside in Cuba, the worker's paradise.

To be honest, it wasn’t actually a black-out so much as it was a vacation. No, really. We got on an airplane and flew south and had a vacation. Ordinarily that wouldn’t stop us from bringing the internet with us but Varadero being situated in communist Cuba doesn’t enjoy the same level of services as we generally take for granted at home. We made the most of things in an attempt to enjoy the situation: we walked on sandy beaches, swam in the ocean, stretched out on beach chairs with trash literature, took in some sight-seeing and enjoyed all-inclusive meals and beverages. Tough life, but we somehow managed to survive it.

Of course, we didn’t have too much to worry about, not work-wise. We were able to schedule social media posts for one of our clients using the social media dashboard application Hootsuite. This tool allows users to manage several different social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Foursquare all from one screen. The real beauty of Hootsuite is that it helps you to schedule posts so that vacations from the internet are actually possible. Naturally, dashboard applications aren’t without their downsides. Not all of the platform functionality, such as Facebook tagging, is available and there are those rare “outages” when services aren’t syncing up properly. These, however, are minor inconveniences and the benefits more than make up for them.

On this particular trip one of those benefits included being able to seek out Cuban guitarists whom we could offer gifts to courtesy of RiverSide Music in Trenton. When Maggie and Peter George heard about our trip to Cuba they immediately suggested we take packages of nylon guitar strings with us. With various embargoes in place, consumer goods are scarce and difficult for Cubans to get. “Many Cuban musicians,” Maggie said, “are forced to improvise and make do with crude substitutes that are marginal at best.” She generously supplied us with six sets of strings to take along with us.

Eric poses with two Cuban musicians Ariel and Enrique.

Music is a big part of the culture there, so it was not hard to find musicians playing in and around the resorts. Let me just say that, despite my limited abilities in Spanish, we became quite popular whenever we brought these strings out. The joy and gratitude we received for these gifts was deeply touching.

Overall, we enjoyed a great internet black-out, er, vacation. It’s good to know you can get away from it all without having to worry the whole time. It’s good to visit other countries, discover new things, and make new friends along the way. And, in whatever forms they may take, it’s fun to be social!

Photos by Penny Olorenshaw.

Posted in Social Media | Tagged blogging, Cuba, Cubans, facebook, guitar strings, HootSuite, linkedin, social media, Trenton, twitter | Leave a comment

People don’t plan to fail at Social Media

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Eric

What if you were responsible for telling the online world something meaningful or interesting about your product or service every couple of days? You may not have thought of it in those terms, but using social media for your business allows you that opportunity. Whether you’re writing a blog or posting to Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, social media gives you a means of communicating with an audience of current and potential clients. Why is it then, that so many people seem to clam up when they get started with promoting themselves through social media?

Although the reasons why people go silent likely vary from one person to the next, I believe the main barriers to success are likely these:

not having available time (or believing you don’t)
not scheduling when things should go live
not believing that others will find your product or service interesting
not recognizing noteworthy aspects of, or events within, your business

In one of our previous posts, 5 Ways to be MORE Social in the New Year, we said one of our resolutions was to be strategic and plan ahead. We also promised we’d talk about it in a future blog, so here we go.

I believe that all of the barriers listed above could be properly addressed through a little strategic thinking and planning. The first two barriers are mechanical reasons why you might not get your message out. They fall more into the nature of building a habit. It’s up to you to include them in your daily or weekly activities within your business. You should check your social media accounts regularly to make posts and follow the conversations which happen. This should become as important and habitual for you as checking your email.

The second two barriers are more intrinsic to why you might be at a loss for what content to share and, more importantly, what your reasons are for sharing it. Yes, you should have some reason for sharing the things you do with your audience, that would be the strategic aspect of using social media. Hopefully your reason for doing all this blogging and posting amounts to more than simply jumping on a bandwagon. The basic benefits to using social media are:

building or maintaining customer relationships
creating brand identity
developing top-of-mind awareness for your product or service
driving traffic to your website
increasing website rankings in search results (SEO)

I realize that, as benefits go, those may sound rather dry and boring, but that doesn’t mean your methods of achieving them have to be. That’s where the content comes in. First of all, you have to believe that your product or service IS interesting to others. Why else would they follow you? More importantly, what interested you in your business in the first place? Tell people what those fun, quirky, interesting things are. Share the photos and stories that make what you do appealing. Remember, it doesn’t all have to be your own content. Share and comment on links to the content that helps say it for you.

As an example, a tax accountant might think there isn’t much he or she could say that would be of interest to anyone else. After all, what could be more dry than taxes? But a little strategic and creative thinking could give you regular content to share. For instance, why do people need a tax accountant? To save on paying their taxes and, more importantly, to avoid going to jail for not paying taxes. Hmmm… what do you suppose would happen if our tax accountant were to google “quotes, tax evasion”? I did and the first item was a quote perfectly suited for sharing as a Facebook or Titter post.

“The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the thickness of a prison wall.” -Denis Healey

By googling “fun tax facts” I found a link to this article which gave a few interesting examples of tax “avoidance” from centuries past.

Sharing a few items such as those would help ease the tedium of some of the more serious details an accountant might need to present. It also lets you get your name in front of people on a regular basis without always trying to sell yourself. Remember, it’s “social” media not “selling” media.

Another aspect to thinking strategically is to make a habit of constantly reviewing what’s going on in your business. Are there holidays or seasonal products and services you could be promoting? Do the holidays and change of seasons offer you opportunities to steer conversation? Since you know these events are coming you can make things easier on yourself by jotting down ideas ahead of time. Why wait until you’re too busy?

If your business sold gardening supplies you might want to be discussing the routine chores surrounding the different seasons. You can be subtle and conversational. Talking in late spring/early summer about different mulches and the value of protecting plants from drying out gets people thinking about buying those products in preparation for the dog days of summer when things are likely to wilt.

A nutritionist could talk about low-fat, healthy appetizers prior to the Christmas season. A caterer could start conversations about favourite tail-gate cooking methods prior to Super Bowl and run a “battle of the snack foods” by asking people to vote between different foods. “Nachos vs. Jalapeno Poppers?” “Chili Dogs or Sloppy Joes?” A B&B operator could benefit by asking followers to share tales of their most romantic getaways as a lead up to Valentine’s day.

People love to chat and that’s what social media is all about. You have a platform you can share, so think strategically, open things up and let your followers become part of the conversation. When that begins to happen you’ll find it becomes easier to think of content worth sharing. I won’t kid you though, it does take time to find your voice and build a responsive audience. What’s more, you’ll find that only a very small percentage of your audience will actually participate, but that doesn’t mean the others aren’t paying attention. I’ve had many people who didn’t respond online comment to me in person about things they’ve read in our blog posts or on our Facebook page. You never know who’s “listening” so don’t let the opportunities pass you by. Make social media a regular part of your routine, think strategically and plan ahead.

Posted in Goal-setting, Social Media | Tagged blogging, facebook, social media, social media for business, strategic planning, twitter, using social media | Leave a comment

Looking back, looking forward, and thanks!

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Penny

In the blog post that Eric wrote yesterday, he promised the next post would be about social media strategy. While he’s working on that, I wanted to take a few minutes to pay tribute to some very important people in our lives and do some of that ‘socializing’ Eric talked about.

As the year comes to a close and we pause to look back at the good fortune that has come our way, I’d like to take a moment to recognize the many wonderful clients with whom we’ve worked in the past couple of years. With a client base from both nearby Brighton, Trenton and Belleville and further away in Toronto, Mississauga and Burlington, poloDesign’s clients are a diverse lot and many of them have products or services that will help you keep your New Year’s resolutions. I hope you will have occasion to visit their websites, Facebook pages and places of business to experience the passion and commitment they have for their businesses.

Resolution #1: Do more travelling

The Apple Route – the area from Port Hope to Quinte West in Eastern Ontario is home to a wide variety of shops, restaurants and accommodations – come for a visit! Representing member businesses across the region, we launched their new CMS Made Simple website in September 2010.
Brighton Inn Bed & Breakfast – a beautiful Victorian home in downtown Brighton. We created a website for new owners Don & Nikki a couple of years ago and we’re now helping them promote with our email service.
Burken Bed & Breakfast – between Brighton and Colborne, a quiet spot with wonderful gardens and two of the most charming hosts around. We built their website when they downsized from their previous business, Butler Creek Bed & Breakfast.
Loughbreeze Bay B & B – looking for a magical getaway? Loughbreeze has a self-contained apartment as well as cyclist accommodation in a secluded spot on Lake Ontario. We developed their WordPress website in 2009.

Resolution #2: Make sure to look after yourself!

Lorraine Harvey Seminars – communications is the key for business and personal growth and Lorraine’s seminars are inspiring. So far, we’ve created a new logo, business cards, brochure and Facebook page for Lorraine and we’re underway on a WordPress website so she can share her wisdom with a wider audience.
Living Life Cycles – offers a variety of personal and financial services to help with your move to the Northumberland/Quinte/Prince Edward County region. We’ve worked with owners Mary Robertson and Ken Prue on social media coaching.
Harmony in Health – Jaye Yarrien helps you get back to optimal health through food education and cooking classes! We help Jaye set up her Facebook page and provided some coaching on blogging.
Trinity-St. Andrews United Church – one of Brighton’s oldest and most active congregations. One of our first clients in Brighton, we used CMS Made Simple to develop a website they can keep up-to-date with all their goings-on!
Victoria’s Cupboard – chock full of natural and organic foods, herbs and spices as well as a full line of the highest quality vitamins and specialty natural health items. For Victoria’s Cupboard we built a content management website to provide the latest health information and a Zen Cart online store.

Resolution #3: Treat yourself to something nice!

G. Boyd Boutique – every woman needs new shoes! And jewellry and hats too! Gina Boyd’s shop in downtown Brighton is a great pick-me-up on a chilly winter day. We were thrilled that Gina asked us to create her first website, which we launched with a terrific party at the store.
ROCIA Skincare & Makeup – the best all-natural organic skincare and mineral make-up, period. We developed their website and online store with CMS Made Simple and Zen Cart.

Resolution #4: Laugh and play more often!

Brighton Barn Theatre - everybody needs to laugh! Brighton’s local theatre group presents their plays on the grounds of Proctor House Museum. Their stylish new content management website will let them promote their upcoming shows.
Riverside Music – a recent expansion has doubled the space for Quinte’s best music store and school. We’ve worked with them on a new logo, and visual materials and advertising, and look forward to developing their online presence in the coming year.
Canadian Express Line – everybody needs to play! If model trains are your thing, you can find everything you need in the online store we built with Zen Cart.
Spelmer Chrysler Jeep Dodge – the 2011′s are coming and you can find out when by following Spelmer’s Facebook page. It includes great Facebook apps from North Social and we’re also working with them on a Google AdWords campaign.

Resolution #5: Look after the important things at home.

Intercept Home Watch – planning to be away? Make sure your home is well looked after while you’re gone. We created a tabletop retractable banner for use at networking events and trade shows.
Shefa Enterprises – great water is the basis of good health. Michelle and Troy Dickenson, MineralPro dealers in Napanee, asked for assistance in getting up to speed quickly with Facebook. After a couple of hours using Starbucks’ free Wi-Fi one summer evening, they were all set.
Staging for Success – selling your home or wanting to decorate? Birgit Wartenberg can help you create just the right atmosphere. We developed and continue to maintain Birgit’s website.
Sharon Donahoe – a real estate broker who goes the distance! We created an eye-catching retractable banner for home shows and events.
Trenton Pet Hospital – loving care for your pet friends. We used their existing graphics to create a retractable Banner Bug they can set up quickly when they present talks to local organizations.

Resolution #6: Maintain old relationships.

Even with our move to the country, I haven’t lost the connection to my previous life in the theatre:

Stage Managing the Arts (S.M.Arts) – resources and annual conference on developing skills for stage managers. We’ve created brochures for S.M.Arts for the past 3 conferences and developed a website where attendees can register.
Production Managing the Arts (P.M.Arts) – an annual conference on managing the ‘people, time and money’ aspects of theatrical productions. The new website we created helps them spread the word and attendees can register through PayPal.
Ryerson Theatre School – my alma mater and one of the best theatre schools in the country. I’m pleased to continue my long relationship with RTS; after being both a student and a long-time instructor, I’m now the School’s webmaster.

Resolution #7: Support local businesses.

Quinte West Chamber of Commerce – if you have a business in the Quinte region and you haven’t joined the Chamber, what are you waiting for? Besides all the great things they do for the business community, the e-newsletter they send using our email service will keep you up-to-date with what’s happening in the community.
Pryme Farms – a local family-owned farm that primarily breeds Boer goats. We developed their website two years ago, expanded it last year and will help them get started with email marketing this winter.
Lisa Purves Garden Design & Consultation – if you’d love a beautiful garden but aren’t sure where to start, Lisa will design and create the right surroundings for your home. Working together, we designed a website that is just as beautiful as Lisa’s gardens.
Birds Safety Clamps – you might not have a personal use for industrial lifting clamps, but maybe you know a business that does. We helped them set up a BigCommerce online store to reach customers across North America.
D’s Bookkeeping Service – Denise Franklin keeps poloDesign’s books in order – what a relief to not have to do it myself any more! We created a retractable tabletop banner she can take to networking events like Power of Women Exchange.

Resolution #8: Expand beyond the local area.

Chef Mike – Burlington’s celebrity personal chef. Amazing dinner parties and private catering services – enjoy your friends’ company instead of slaving away in the kitchen! Chef Mike’s site (ThymeManagement.ca) was one of our very first projects and we’re now working with him to rebrand his business as Chef Mike.
Cats Only Bed & Breakfast – a wonderful vacation spot for your feline friends in Burlington when you have to be away. Another one of our early web design clients, we appreciate owner Ursula Satelmayer’s trust in letting us move her business online.
Frischkorn Audiovisual – our previous employer and one of our first graphic design clients. Combining the highest quality AV equipment with experienced account managers and knowledgeable technicians who actually care that your presentation goes smoothly. We’re currently working with them on new ad layouts.
Screentec Corporation – Mississauga-based suppliers to the screen printing industry. We’ve been working with them on a new logo and business cards.

Resolution #9: Get some peace of mind.

Intact Insurance – we’ve been supplying Banner Bugs, the highest quality retractable banners on the market, to Intact (formerly ING Insurance) since 2008.

Whew! That’s a lot of clients in just a couple of years and we appreciate every one of them. We send them our best wishes for continued success in the coming year.

Resolution #10: Live for today and look forward to the future.

We already have a number of projects lined up for the beginning of 2010 and we’re always happy to discuss new ventures.

Arts Quinte West – we’ve been providing a free web page for this local arts group and they’ve now secured funding to develop a full site.
Quinte Access – providers of public and specialized transportation services in the Quinte region
Original Creations – silk flower arrangements for weddings, home and business and winners of a free website we gave away during our social media seminars in Brighton last summer.
And we’ll shortly be launching a new site for a GTA-based accounting software company. Speaking of which, I should get back to work.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful and prosperous 2011.

Posted in CMS Made Simple, Community, Social Media, Web design | Tagged business, clients, gratitude, New Year, thanks, website | Leave a comment

5 Ways to be MORE Social in the New Year

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Eric

Now that Christmas is behind us it’s only natural to begin reflecting on the past year and to make plans (resolutions?) for the coming year. From a business and social media point of view, we had a very active year in 2010. We launched this blog in April and have made sixteen posts to it so far. And we’ve shared a great deal of the work we’ve been doing for our clients on Facebook with our own poloDesign business page there. We even found time to do a number of seminar presentations in Brighton, Trenton and Belleville on social media and what to include in building business websites.

While we did have a remarkably successful year, there’s always room to adjust and make improvements. With that in mind, I thought I would share 5 suggestions we’ll be following for improving social media engagement in 2011.

1. Blog more regularly

This one’s a biggie, because it so often is held up as the cornerstone of any social media strategy. From a business point of view, blogging helps you develop and maintain an interested audience for your product or service. It allows you to establish expertise in your field. And it adds fresh content for your audience (and search engines) to follow. Without fresh, engaging content you have less of a reason to continue asking for a share of your audience’s valuable time and attention.

I know it’s hard to write blogs on a regular basis; believe me I know this so well. But it’s necessary to make that commitment. It’s human nature to let things slip, but a forgotten blog becomes just that, forgotten. If you won’t spend time with your blog why should anyone else?

2. Follow and comment on more blogs

How will you learn to be a better blogger if you don’t read a few yourself? You’ll also find related content that you might be able to share occasionally in lieu of having to always produce it yourself. And it’s a great way to spark ideas for your own material or to find potential collaborators and business partners. I already have my Google Reader set up to follow an assortment of blogs that interest me, however there’s always room for more.

What I really need to work on in the new year is commenting on other blogs. This is where the “social” part of social media comes in. It’s how you join the conversation instead of only being a broadcaster of your own content. By taking an interest in what others have to say and contributing to their blogs you create awareness of yourself in other forums where your company or brand might not have been known. Are you going to deny yourself the opportunity to put your name in front of potential new clients?

3. Make use of other social media platforms

In my personal life I’m already on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare and I have a YouTube account, but I recognize that I rely heavily on Facebook as my main communication medium. As for Twitter and LinkedIn, I use them more as research tools than social ones so it’s probably time for me to remedy that.

For our business, as I mentioned at the start, we chose to begin promoting poloDesign through Facebook and our blog. Those are both good starting points, but people use different platforms to connect in different ways. Just as TV is different from radio, which is different from print in terms of what you can do and who you can reach, so too are the online social media. It’s important to explore those platforms and make use of them if they fit your communication needs (not all of them will).

One caveat I would offer is to be certain you’re ready to expand onto other platforms. Don’t do it because you keep reading that you should. Do it because you’ve already established good practices in using one or two social media platforms before moving on to others. Remember what I said about that forgotten blog? Don’t build a ghost town of unused platforms with your name stamped across them.

4. Collaborate more

If this is truly “social” media, then nothing could be more social than finding opportunities to collaborate with others. Look for businesses that might complement your own and find a way to work with them to generate some “buzz”. Create an event, make a referral or recommendation, or simply offer praise and recognition using your social platforms. By doing so, you’ll help yourself, your collaborators and also your individual audiences by potentially introducing them to products and services they want or need. The biggest benefit of course, is that you’ll become more involved in building a bigger and better community.

5. Be strategic and plan ahead

Boy, if there’s one thing we could probably all use a little more of in our businesses it’s planning, right? Too often we are more reactive than we are proactive, but we can work to change our behaviour. And following this suggestion will help you in implementing the first four suggestions.

There are two main reasons we fail to keep up with using social media.

Not having (or feeling we don’t have) enough time to do it.
Being uncertain as to what or how to communicate with our audience.

Instead of waking up each morning and wondering what you might say on Facebook, Twitter or your blog, look ahead and decide what’s important for you to discuss with your audience. How? Well, this may sound boring, but start a list of things you want to share. As you work on your list, consider the items on it and how they fit into what’s going on in your business in terms of when sharing them would have the most impact.

As a means of demostrating strategy and planning in action, I’m going to wrap up this blog post by promising to elaborate on this final suggestion in our next post. So, now you know what to look forward to, and I know what I’ll be working on next.

In closing, I realize that I’m risking a potential loss of face here by putting these suggestions forward as New Year’s resolutions for poloDesign if we fail to follow through on them. However, I would encourage you to follow along and perhaps we can tackle these together. (Remember, we should be looking for opportunities to collaborate more.) By all means comment back, tell us your business resolutions and let us know how you do with them.

Posted in Community, Social Media | Tagged blogging, brighton, facebook, linkedin, social media, social media for business, Trenton, twitter | 2 Comments

Wishing you a very “social” Christmas!

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Eric

As Christmas draws nearer I find that I’m at a loss as to what to write in this space. I’ve started and re-started this blog post several times. I’ve changed the subject matter and the direction of it more than once too. Still, it just hasn’t worked for me. I mean, really, do you want to read about social media right now? Or is your inner six-year old a little too distracted by all the glitter and sentimentality that are a part of the holiday season?

Besides, Christmas, by its very nature, is a social media event that went “viral” ages ago. Regardless of what you believe in, Christmas shines as a potential beacon for universal goodness. It’s primary message is about selfless giving. Yes, sometimes it seems as though that core principal gets lost in a stream of commercial chatter meant to inspire rabid consumerism, yet beneath all the tinsel the idea still exists.

The idea is continually revised and revisited in the stories we tell. From the biblical origins of the nativity to Scrooge, Santa Claus, the Grinch, or the Griswolds, the values of generosity and kindness towards others have been shared without anyone having to ask you to “like”, comment, repost or retweet. Why? Because, at heart, those values exist in all of us. Which is why it’s good to take some time, even if only once a year, to recognize and celebrate our potential to give to others.

And what better time to practice these values than in the darkest days of winter, when days are short and nights are cold and long? Historically, this time of year more than any other was a time when we were all most vulnerable and in need of a community that valued caring for others above selfishness. Our physical survival depended on these values and, as both Scrooge and the Grinch discovered, so did our spiritual survival.

For the above reasons I would argue that Christmas isn’t merely a luxury, or a religious observance, it’s a necessity of life. The trees, lights, bows, ribbons and wrapping paper are all fun. But Christmas comes whether we have that or not. It will always be there for us because we are social by nature and Christmas is all about being social in the best possible way.

Merry Christmas to all!