Hello Spring. Hello New Business Opportunity

27 Apr

It’s Spring. Have you Thought About Refreshing Your Business?

By Todd Sayles In Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Media Marketing, Web Design, Website Refresh /

April is coming to a close but it’s not too late to come up with new ideas. For me, April and Easter are synonymous with Spring, so when this time of year comes around, it makes me think of all things new. The skies are not so cloudy, the sun seems to be out more. Definitely the time to get out of the house and look around. For homeowners it’s time to seed the lawn to get some new grass or flowers growing. For others it’s time to shop for new clothes or something else new. How about making this season a time to think about what can bring new life to your business? Maybe it’s a change to your marketing or a new way to go about sales or even time to hire a new employee. What stops us from doing that new thing that can propel our businesses to a new level? Maybe you don’t have the right information, but with the internet and lots of informative newsletters out there, we really have no excuse! Here a few things I’ve seen that can rob us of the opportunity to put that “new thing” into effect!

Time

Are you like me working 9 to 5 (sometimes even 9 to 7!) in the business? And after a shift like that you are guaranteed to be tired! What time are you taking to look at the overall effectiveness of your business? Well, I’ve learned that my best days to do that are not at the beginning of the week when work is “jumping.” For me it’s the end of the week, like on Thursdays and most recently on Sundays, when I can really take a look at my business and notice some areas for change. To me it’s just quieter then and I’m able to focus better. Early mornings are good for some, but others like different times of day. Either way, we can all find 1 or 2 hours of quiet time during the week to look for some areas in need of change, right?

Budget

Let’s be serious. Is it the budget? Are you one of those business owners that thinks that your budget can make or break your business life? Well, I recently put some effort into identifying extra money to put towards marketing.

After a while I learned that I had to include money in my budget, for marketing. I had to save a certain percentage of all sales into a separate account for marketing. That way there would always be money set aside for growth. Let’s say though that after I pay myself there’s not much left for anything. Is it true that there’s nothing left? Do you know your budget? If not it’s time to talk with someone with budget expertise, who can help you go through it. Maybe it’s your spouse or friend or maybe even a bookkeeper or accountant. Either way it may be time to get more intimate with that budget than you have been in the past.

Let’s say you have a budget and there actually is no wiggle room. Then let’s think about using Paypal or some other lending situation. What I like about Paypal is that it has a 4 to 12-month no-interest payment term, so you can try a few things out and just make your payment the following month or over time. That’s pretty good for $500 to $10K purchases. Thinking strategically, if the money you receive is more than the possible interest in payment you’re ahead of the game. This would just be a temporary strategy until you have a cash budget. Beyond that, there are lots of way to obtain finances to increase business. If you’re in a special business zone there are incentives for hiring people. There are funds out there for free marketing on major sites. There are also organizations with funds that are solely there to help you grow. They have funds to pay for training and even some marketing. So on this topic let’s start by affirming “I can find the funds; budget or not”. Let’s at least start there.

Fear of Failure

This can really be the one that stops a lot of us. To be honest I’ve had great years in business and I’ve had a few bad years. The few bad years have at times made me overly cautious, when I should really be pushing forward. I think it’s because I worried that I could make a catastrophic mistake that would destroy my business. I have to say though that after 15 years in business I believe I’m smart enough to leave room for failure that can push me towards a possible win. If I tried a strategy that resulted in failure once in a while, I can now say that that avenue did not work and move on to my next idea! Better to try and fail and learn from my mistakes, than to risk nothing, learn nothing and gain nothing!

So I hope this helps you get to the “new” you deserve in your business. I hope it gets you off the sidelines at the very least. If you need help getting your marketing program going, schedule a call with us at 973-655-9396.

Todd Sayles, Principal of Creative Mind Consulting Group, has built a successful organization that services real estate, retail, hospital and wellness clients among others. His team’s expertise includes problem solving/market strategy, design and marketing consulting, creative design, online website development, content and design creation for digital media and print collateral, public relations, search engine optimization and collaboration with outside designers and writers.

Creative Mind Design Group teams up with clients to strategize on marketing challenges and design goals. We partner with companies to ultimately create brilliant results which feature inspired design.

23 Feb

Lessons on Marketing from Tyler Perry

By Todd Sayles In Marketing Tips, Uncategorized, Web Design /

This morning I was reading about Tyler Perry after watching last night, part of an episode of The Oval, a miniseries created by Tyler Perry, which now airs on BET. The article written by Mark Olsen was entitled Tyler Perry puts his faith behind, and into, his work (Chicago Tribune, 2005). I am very happy about Tyler Perry’s success and the way he initially marketed his work. I remember hearing about his plays from fellow church members back in the day, when I lived in New York, and wanting to go and see one. On a cold Saturday night in 1999, I finally got the chance. I took the train from Far Rockaway, Queens, where I lived, to the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan and saw his play “I Can Do Bad all By Myself.” I laughed all night and totally enjoyed the play, especially its message. Realistically, at that time, Tyler Perry was known mostly by black people, and particularly by church going black people. He was not heavily publicized. The question is: how did all of us get to know about his plays? As black history month comes to a close, we would like to end on a high note, as we take a peek at how this legendary black entrepreneur used the basics of marketing to push-start his phenomenal success!

Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is a well-known American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2011, Forbes listed him as the highest-paid man in entertainment, earning US $130 million between May 2010 and May 2011. Perry is famous for his performance of Madea, a tough, elderly female character, whom he created. Perry’s films vary in style from the usual filmmaking to filmed productions of live stage plays. Many of Perry’s stage-play films have been adapted as feature films.

The article I read said:

“Initially inspired to write down his own experiences by an offhanded comment Oprah Winfrey made on her TV show, Perry moved in 1992 from his native New Orleans to Atlanta, where his plays began to attract an audience. With minimal advertising, relying largely on word of mouth and a now-massive mailing list, Perry has mounted and toured numerous plays since 1998, also selling videos, and amassed a devoted fan base and a rather sizable fortune.”

Later on the article stated:

“Michael Paseornek, president of production at Lions Gate Films, said he had become aware of Perry after a package arrived containing a script and a video.”

“It isn’t like we were tracking Tyler’s activities. He did so much from a grass-roots level, through his Web site, through the church, through word of mouth, that he completely slipped under the radar of the film industry. I got this package with a cover memo from William Morris saying something like Tyler has done 57 gazillion dollars in sales, something outrageous for someone I’d never heard of.”

What this shows me is that anyone can become a success if you are good at the basics of marketing. Here are some of the main points I took from this information:

Inspiration

Tyler Perry was inspired to write not from being taught that, but by watching the movie “Precious” and hearing a comment from Oprah Winfrey on her show. Tyler Perry had no degree in marketing and actually only had a GED. Nonetheless, he had a very troubled childhood which he seemed to work into his plays. He found a love of writing and just went with it. Many of us are inspired to do what we do for various reasons. Find your inspiration; find your reason for living. Enjoy it, love it, and persist in it.

The Website

Tyler Perry, then and now, advertised what was happening in his entertainment world through his website. I remember seeing his plays advertised there and finding out where they were playing. He basically kept a newsletter of what he was doing. He kept his fans informed and updated on new plays (and now movies and TV shows) so they could plan to see his content. Back then, it was a gallery of pictures and text on his website. Today, it’s all video which is more appropriate for his market. A good website advertises what a person or business is doing, and keeps its viewers engaged. That’s what Tyler Perry did.

The List

The next important thing Tyler Perry did is that he developed a list. So many times, I speak to entrepreneurs, business owners, so forth, and find out that they do not maintain their lists. Your list is your life source. Whether you are making B2B connections or retail customer connections, one of your main goals is to keep them informed, even when they are not in front of you. The general rule is that “6 touches lead to a sale”. In general, the more ways you can connect with a customer or potential customer, the better. Those “touches” may mean some calls, some postcards, advertising or even some emails. What can you provide them that would be helpful in their current situation? Is it offers, new services, games, etc.? Going to one of Tyler Perry’s plays made you want to go to another one…and bring some friends with you. To take it to the next level, see if you can get the “troopers” on your list to do some social media organic advertising for you, to increase the size of the list. The more “troopers” who do this the better. Tyler Perry developed a list of interested and devoted fans that made him a millionaire before he made all those relatable movies many of us, brothers and sisters love.

The Location

Tyler Perry had to adjust locations. He knew that Atlanta was a hot market for his type of shows. There are a lot of affluent black people living there. They were his target market so he went where his target market was. Sometimes you have to move your shop to a different place, or focus on a different target market, where you’ll be more successful. Some would say why didn’t he go to NY?; perhaps, he wanted to test his plays in Atlanta, before hitting the big stage in Manhattan. Tyler Perry was smart about this, not holding onto New Orleans, where he could not be as successful as he wanted to be.

Tyler Perry is great at making content that speaks to his core black and Latino viewers and even moving to more mainstream viewers occasionally. To people like me, he will forever be known as one of the most successful black entertainment entrepreneurs. In 1999, many of us had very few places to see shows that spoke to the experiences we had growing up, especially in a light-hearted way. Anyone with the courage to try can achieve a similar level of success. You just have to start with the basics and not give up. More opportunity will come over time as it did for Tyler Perry.

If you need help getting your basic marketing program going, schedule a call with us to help you work it out at 973-655-9396.

Marriage Retreat, Creative Mind Consulting Group

07 Feb

Can a “Marketing Retreat” Benefit Your Marketing Future?

By Todd Sayles In Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Web Design, Website Refresh, WordPress /

Nowadays marketing in this post pandemic world is different than it used to be. What do B2Bs do when they are on endless zoom calls and have little face to face time with leads, clients and even staff? They change their marketing or else become obsolete. Marketing in this new post pandemic world is pivoting. Saying that you get all your business from referrals can’t cut it anymore. Putting that marketing plan on the “back burner” is coming back to hurt some. Maybe it’s time for some to call for an SOS?

More and more people I’ve connected with have said they don’t know where they are with their marketing. As a marketing professional, it’s hard to even get these people ready for something as simple as marketing goals. I’ve learned that in these situations, it can be best to get my clients together as a group and just do an effective “Marketing Retreat”.

What is a Marketing Retreat?

To start, a Marketing Retreat can be many things. A few things include:

Stepping away from the norm to strategize improvements
Brainstorming a few hours together with key staff
A review of your marketing and sales numbers
Time to focus on better marketing effectiveness

It’s basically some time to regroup on what’s important for your clients and your company. With all the ways you can market your company, it can be mind boggling as to what’s your best route. Many times each person has different ideas on what can be done. At times when a decision maker has to decide on a path, hearing multiple ideas ends up sounding like lots of disjointed plans. That’s not usually the case though. When we get all the major stakeholders together (marketing VPs, researchers, salespersons, etc.) and fully review the ideas in a loose, but fun, structured setting, it’s an opportunity to bring out the best ideas, to brainstorm, and comprise a strategic plan.

Here are some obstacles that may come up when you bring up a “Marketing Retreat” to your staff.

Isn’t a Marketing Retreat a Time Waster?

Some may say “with all I have to do, and all the proposals I have to fill out, do I really have time to sit and think about my marketing.” Yes, I’m sorry but you have to take some time to do something you don’t normally do. You may learn that some of the time you currently take on sales and marketing may be going in the wrong direction. What if you’re working on sales that are not pulling in the best paying jobs for the company? Having a good marketing retreat takes time to looks at sales and recognizes what’s a good use of time, and time wasters. I’ve worked with clients that have made shifts away from what they thought were good sales on their websites to marketing other items that were better for their clients and paid better as well. A Marketing Retreat at the least is not wasted time.

Marketing Retreats Can’t be Fun?

For those who are more action-orientated and not number-crunchers does it all have to be work, to be work though? Many times, you can add intentional fun. You can add games that answer marketing questions. At one retreat I was at, we actually climbed a small mountain. Mind you, none of us were dressed to do this, but for some reason we all agreed. At one point, we were actually scaling a small wall. I’ll never forget the stories we came back with. The thing was, we all did something that bonded us together better, and it lasted way after the retreat.

Marketing is not as effective as on-the-street sales. Why focus on that?

Sales is integral to keeping a company growing. Every salesperson needs leads. Some leads may come from cold calls and friends but others can come from online sources. Still others can come from inbound calls off of sales materials out there. Any salesperson knows that the better the leads, the better they are able to make sales. You can try and make cold calls all day long, but you know if they don’t have interest in your specific products, there can be lots of time lost in those calls. Why not have leads that come from marketing strategies that are tailored to a prospect’s needs that “clever” marketing has discovered. I know a real estate salesman who just relied on his referrals. Over the years, he knew he needed to be more strategic with his marketing but he never made the time or budget the cost to get the marketing moving forward. We tried to lead him several times. Instead he did very little. The thing is, he continued to make money but his partners did not do as well. Because they could not come together to decide on a marketing plan, it affected the growth of their leads and eventually the partnership fell apart.

So really, what is a marketing retreat?

The real answer is that a marketing retreat can be whatever you need it to be. When you work with a good marketing expert and a creative event coordinator, you can hold it for a day at a close by outdoor resort, or a half day on your campus grounds or board room. It can become memorable, and cause a transformation for your organization. A good marketing retreat will usually have these components:

Food/snacks
Activities
Prizes
Stats of current sales and marketing campaigns
Strategy and target discussions
Goals discussions
Budgets
Campaign options
Next steps

Our organization has done marketing retreats for a variety of organizations. If you need help finding focus in your marketing, schedule a call with us to help you create it at 973-655-9396.

Creative Mind Design Group teams up with clients to strategize on marketing challenges and design goals. We come alongside companies to ultimately create inspired design alongside brilliant results.

22 Jul

Is Creativity in Marketing essential for Your Business?

By Todd Sayles In Branding, Healthcare, Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends /

Is creativity a marketing essential?

Marketers believe in love at first sight. Consumers are likely to fall for whatever catches their attention first and consequently, give the businesses what they want — sales. In other words, the eyes were always the first to decide. So can we prove that creativity in marketing is vital to every business especially now during the pandemic when most consumers’ decisions are heavily inspired by what they see in social media? We’ll see!

Think about this situation. Suppose there are two businesses, both wellness centers – WC X and WC Z, situated near each other.

Both businesses offer the same services including personal care, functional medicine, fitness, nutrition, and more. WC X has been in the business for 10 years now and they have established relationships with long-term clients, leaving them with consistent profit. WC Z came into the picture two years ago and was more costly. People started to visit them but it wasn’t doing well at first because customers already trusted the services of WC X. They started marketing their business through social media and later, people started to flock to their center and some of the long-term clients of WC X even started to visit them more often. That’s when they started to earn good profit.C X realized that social media was a more cost-efficient way to market their business than traditional media. They created their own page and promoted their products. However, they only posted photos of their center and soft copies of their posters. They thought, “why are we not getting more responses than them?”

WC Z Instagram page used an aesthetically impressive color scheme and flow of content. They posted close-up photos of females and their glowing skin, videos of someone getting a good sweat from the sauna experience, recipes that one could try for dinner, and even motivational posts which gained a lot of engagement. It showed what people could need, get, and at the same time, it captured the market’s interest.

So is creativity essential in marketing?

Usually, we would think that an established brand offering a proven quality experience is enough to keep the business running. It still is true. But fact check, new consumers are mostly captivated by how you present your brand.

This is where creativity rings as an essential part of marketing any business — wellness, real estate, service, retail, and more. You see, consumers want to be intrigued. They need to see the experience in a manner that makes them want to use your service.

So to answer your question, yes. Creativity in marketing is vital to every business and especially now with this pandemic since most people are already a click reach in social media.

Why Should Businesses Invest for Creativity in Marketing?

A Forrester study projected that shifting from technology to creativity in six years increases the return on investment (ROI) by almost 18%.

This is upon a comparison of adopting marketing technologies and investing in a more creative strategy.

Creativity in marketing is a true driver of success for every business. And now with this pandemic, business owners should really consider it.

You see, a crisis can be both good and bad for business owners. According to John F. Kennedy, whenever there is a crisis, you should learn to be aware of the danger but at the same time, recognize the opportunity.

While several businesses suffered greatly during the pandemic, others saw an opportunity to reboot, reassess and revamp their businesses. This is how you plan out an efficient comeback for your business.

Reassuring customers is a given. To do so, you have to work on improving your marketing tactics. Competition gets strong, especially in social media, since most business owners know where the audience is easily targeted. But how do you stand out from the competition?

Get really creative!

Creativity in marketing means having to think outside the box, taking risks, and exploring new ways to capture your audience’s attention. Think about how you can level up while dealing with this virus?

Healthcare centers may now start to welcome virtual consultations more frequently. Some entrepreneurs are now doing a lot of webinar sessions. Commercial real estate starts opening up space where one can work safely and conveniently without having to travel a lot. Wellness Centers start sending out care packages to their clients.

There are many ways to get creative. Sadly, not all business owners are willing to invest in creative marketing. They would think that these are additional costs. If you are one of these business owners, I encourage you now to think about all the things you have to take care of in your business. From human resources to building costs to inventories, marketing, analyzing business sales and dynamics, and overall, ensuring that all is well, it is definitely a full plate!

If you invest in marketing such as hiring a creative consulting agency to take care of your business, one task is taken off your list. It may be an additional cost but the value that you get from quality branding and convincing marketing initiatives could easily double the returns.

To unlock your brand’s full potential and leave your mark, here are some good reasons to invest in creativity for your business:

Creativity in marketing differentiates your business.
Creativity appeals to the mind.
Your creativity can allow you to create alongside your consumers.

Investing in creativity for your marketing initiatives brings an enormous amount of value to your business. To add, this can really be exciting for your business too. There are many ways you can get creative but consulting with the experts may be a good start. Call us today at 973-655-9396 and let’s see how we can get creative with your business!

To help you with your COVID comeback, let’s get you on a Marketing Retreat! This will offer you a half-day marketing research segment, marketing creative strategy document that comes from the retreat, marketing advice, and free food!

Todd Sayles, Principal of Creative Mind Consulting Group, has built a successful organization that services real estate, retail, hospital, and wellness clients among others. His team’s expertise includes problem-solving/market strategy, design, and marketing consulting, creative design, online website development, content, and design creation for digital media and print collateral, public relations, search engine optimization, and collaboration with outside designers and writers.

Creative Mind Design Group teams up with clients to strategize on marketing challenges and design goals. We come alongside companies to ultimately create inspired design alongside brilliant results.

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Creative Mind Consulting Group websites gone wild

20 May

7 Steps to Avoid Websites “Gone Wild!”

By Todd Sayles In Web Design, Website Refresh, WordPress /

Lately, I have spoken to new clients that have many times said the same thing. “I got this site and certain things were not done. Now I’m not getting traffic.” Also “My images are not showing up and I don’t know what to do.” I’ve also heard “On mobile phones the site looks bad. I don’t know how to fix that.” Its like they are in their own surreal TV series called something like “Websites Gone Wild”.

Maybe now that the economy is affected by Covid-19 people are making sure their websites are fully working to help get more business. Hey. You’ve got way more on your plate than websites so here are 7 things to look for when you’re about to finalize a website design project.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

Did you have a discussion concerning keywords and SEO for the website? Is the designer putting the right researched keywords into the page? Is this a separate package? These are things you should know as you’re moving towards the end of the project. It’s important for SEO to be taken seriously. I always say, what’s the sense of making a beautiful website when it’s hidden in a back alley where no one can find it. If SEO is not added, critical sales, service pages and site forms are going to lose out on organic leads over time. If you don’t ask you won’t know because SEO is not easily viewable in areas. The researched keywords need to be added to the title, description tags, keyword tags, headlines, sub-headlines, body copy, alt tags and so forth. Are there links to inside pages from the outside and inside of the site. Then services like Yoast should be added to the site to find other items on the page search engines are looking for. We offer a special service to combat SEO from many angles. It’s that important.

2. Broken Links / Missing Images

Sometimes in changing domains at the end an image may be missing. Many times its because the designer had it on a temporary server and had a few links straight to a page or image address instead of the page /image itself in the system. This can cause the image to be “broken” in that the URL is looking for an image on the test server instead of looking into the published site. Don’t worry. Just let your designer know and he/she can do a quick link check to correct any missing links. Easy fix.

3. Backend Editing is Hard to Work With

Some designers are editing it to be functional and fast online which is good for everyone. When it’s about function only, the coding may not be as nice and neat for you when you go to make your own edits in the backend (where you login to the site). The answer to this is to stress to your designer beforehand that you want to edit the site yourself afterwards. You may also ask which page editor does the designer work with. Look it up to make sure it’s user friendly for a novice. If so, review the site with the designer towards the end to see if anything is difficult for you. Ask for suggestions to make it easier. I’m sure the designer wants you to be happy and will do what they need to do to get it right for you. If they are using someone overseas that’s even more of a reason to watch out for this fast, non-functional, coding that we have seen in the past from sites done like that.

4 Mobile Responsiveness

Its about 50/50 for how people see your site whether on a desktop or mobile phone. 50% in mobile makes that view even more important as time has gone by. Many designers leave this to the end and that makes sense when change orders could have you reworking the mobile coding all day long. Even though that’s the case, it’s up to you to check to see that Google, where 95% of people search, can easily read your site. Go here and have it checked: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly. If you see something saying its not mobile friendly just share the results with your designer. I’m sure they will be happy to make adjustments to get that worked out. Remember at the end, also to do a visual check on both an Android and iPhone phone. That should do it.

5. Sales, Sales, Sales

If you’re doing e-commerce make sure the connections are in place. Are the notifications set to you? Sometimes they default to the developer. Make sure they change them to you near the end, before the site is completed. Do a test sale to make sure the money goes into your account. Check for sales strategies like lead generation, popups, slide-ins, onsite ads and so forth. Make sure it’s all working well. You never want your site to go live and have mistakes here.

6. Picture Piracy

How were the pictures found? Are the licenses good for websites? You don’t want to end up months later with an attorney calling you to tell you that you stole the picture. In the end you’ll be liable by yourself. Give the designer places to find images. Ask about the licenses and read the fine print. That’s really all you need to do.

7. Is Rushing Helping or Hurting?

If you’re making change orders and rushing to finish up at the same time, there’s a good chance it could lead to mistakes. Is it the designer’s fault or are you asking too much in too short of a time? I guess that’s something you’ll have to ponder when evaluating how it’s going with your designer. In all things, seek first to understand rather than be understood. That’s straight from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Very wise words from the late Stephen Covey.

I hope this answers the questions you have. Please use it as a guide to finish your website project well. Work with your website developer to get where you need to be. If you still need help, schedule a call with us to help you work it out at 973-655-9396.

24 Mar

Getting Ready for Ecommerce: Shopify

By Todd Sayles In Marketing Tips, Uncategorized, Web Design, Website Refresh /

During the Coronavirus / Covid-19 situation there are many businesses in a very unsteady situation. Some have products, staff to pay but no way to get their products paid for and easily into their hands. You may have a website but its not setup for sales. You may think that would take up to 3 months to be completed. Actually with a Shopify addon to your website it could be completed in just a few days. If you’re a restaurant, clothing store, children’s store, home store, etc. some sales could help offset some of the losses you may be seeing right now. Plus it could be a step towards future growth that could help you way after the Coronavirus / Covid-19 is long gone.

Here are some items to get ready before you commence getting your Shopify site created:

Products

What are you selling? In Shopify, a collection allows you to organize products into structured groups. This is beneficial for your customers and helps the buying process. For example, a clothing online store wants to include Men’s Fashion. You can create a collection and put in Men’s clothing and when a customer clicks on your Men’s Fashion menu, they are taken to a gallery of products for men. You have to think about navigation menus and add links to help guide your customers to your collections. There are two types of Collections: Manually and Automated. A manual collection always contains the same products unless you add or remove them. An automated collection automatically puts products into the collection using rules, like tags. When you add a product to your online store with a particular tag, the collection is automatically updated with that product.

Pictures and Descriptions

Having a good list of products is great. Now you will need some good pictures of those products. Sometimes with the right lighting, some minor box equipment and a good camera and decent skills you can do it yourself. Other times you may need models, food designers, etc. to make it all work and look tantalizing on screen Its best to provide at least 2-3 shots per item (not more than 5) for variation for the web designer you work with. You’ll also need descriptions per each item you sell. Make it keyword rich to help people find your product within their own google searches. That will help people easily get at look a your items.

Shipping

Knowing your shipping sizes and weights are crucial as well. This will determine the shipping cost per item someone purchases. You can offer free shipping but then that should be factored into the sales prices. If you’re a restaurant and doing local deliveries this won’t matter much. If you’re a clothing designer or electronics store it will mean a lot more. There are several selections in Shopify for shippers. Do your research to determine the best, cost effective shipper out there. In Shopify once the choice of shipper is provided and the dimensions per product are stated the system does all the rest of the calculations for shipping.

Domain:

For those without a domain make sure to determine that first. The cost is minimal per domain but reserving the name is the most important thing to do. Fore a few you may have to shorten your name because its too long to type into a browser and remember. Maybe an acronym is better. If this is a new business check keywords that are searched that could be worked into your name. That way you could get some really easy traffic to your store once its up.

Shopify fees

Lastly keep in mind Shopify is not free. It has fees. It ranges from $29.00 to $299 per month. The differences in costs deal with selling gift cards or not, reporting and special shipping calculations with third-party apps at checkout or not. You have to choose an option to get started. Maybe you start at the lowest end and work your way up sales increase. Its up to you.

Once you have all this ready you’re good to go to have your Shopify website designed, or if you’re adventurous and knowledgeable enough, do it on your own.

10 Feb

Ian Spaltar and Branding

By Todd Sayles In Branding, Spotlight /

This Black History month our team thought it would be a good idea to focus one of our posts on two topics. One main theme we’ve been hitting on lately is branding and the other would be African American History. How could we really bring the two together effectively? Right then it hit me. I remember watching a show on Abstract (season 2; episode 5) where I was introduced to Ian Spaltar. Ian Spaltar was Instagram’s Head of Design and now is actually the Head of Instagram Japan. He is well known for Nike’s FuelBand, the redesign of Instagram Logo and the stories function in Instagram. Ian Spaltar is also a mixture kid; his mother is black and his father is Jewish. I totally get it. Same as me. If you asked my father he’d say he’s black but really he’s both black (father) and Jewish (mother).

Ian on Branding

There are a few things I like about this episode of Abstract. Ian talks about the fact that good logos are not built in a day. He said to his boss when he was given the job to recreate the Instagram Logo that he wouldn’t see anything until 3 months. Realistically it can take that long when you’re looking at structure, color, usability, style, etc. The research and sketches that go into something like that would be enormous. Remember people already liked the original Instagram logo but as life goes on it loses its freshness. The owner was shocked but he trusted Ian so he let him have his time.

He also discussed collaboration. He mentioned collaborating with his team on sketches. I’m not sure how you could accurately create a new brand without collaboration. In our team there is collaboration all over the place. Even this post has at least 3 eyes on it.

Usability was discussed. The newly branded logo had to be able to fit different places. Online, for fun, in posters, flyers, Plaques, etc. It had to be something their consumers (1 in 7 people in the world actually) had to feel comfortable with.

Redesigning the App Interface

Past the logo change there were changes in the structure of the app. You needed attention to details. The redesign meant breaking down what was first there and reworking it to be better than what came before; better for business, better for users, etc. He talks about feeling out whats in the world to make space for the change needed in these project. I totally get that. I have to get out of the office. I have to go to lots of web and marketing events, museums, art studios, study people and have fun with my kids at the park and so on to really be connected to the change needed for our company to develop good design for our clients.

Being Black in Corporate America

Lastly I like that he has to think about his identity as a black person in this world. He says he chose places to work at wherein most of the people there did not look like him. “There’s a low bar and a high bar in these places for black people.” he says. Ian says “People don’t expect a lot from you (as a black person) but a the same time the price for failure seems very very high. Sometimes you can use that as motivation. Other times it can be crushing.” These situations ended up developing empathy in him.

I can relate to what he experienced, being a black-owned design agency in NJ. I also have struggled for corporate examples in the agency world that look like me. I know that on all our own branding projects our racially diverse group gives different perspectives and our absolute best and that makes me proud. Design agencies that promote diversity will see greater success as the branding effort will relate to a greater population.

For more on Ian checkout Abstract: The Art of Design: Season 2, Episode 4. Ian talks about getting to emotions from the app, differences in cultures of people using his app, his development of stories and more.

For further help with your branding click here. or give us a ring at 908-240-9649 to help you through the process.

05 Feb

3 Tips for Branding in this New 2020 Decade

By Todd Sayles In Branding, Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends /

This being the start of a new decade already introduces a new atmosphere that’s almost infectious. Companies like Quickbooks, Godaddy and more have re-branded for the new decade/year. There’s something this year that almost draws you to think of the possibilities. Can your company get better noticed with a new look? Can anyone claim the decade? Only hard work will get you there and time will ultimately tell the story.

What is branding though? Branding is many times thought of as your logo. In actuality that’s only a piece of the puzzle. When you brand your company right it can become your company’s identity. It becomes what your company embodies when someone thinks of or meets your company. A brand identity should look at the following:

Audience:

Connect with your audience. Is should make them feel like you understand their needs. One example are Birds Eye Foods’ Steamfresh bags that started in the early 2000’s. That company understood parents needed to prepare food quickly when they get home from work. They redesigned their packaging to fit a need and its worked out so much that other companies have copied them.

Go Daddy wanted to connect with their entrepreneurs better so they focused heavily on the “Go” part. They said “The GO is a clear statement of advocacy for entrepreneurs everywhere — a symbol of empowerment that encourages them to stand on their own two feet.”

Value Proposition:

It should stand out from the competition to make you identity your own. You need to keep an eye on your competitors to make sure your copy and graphics send a clear message that what you offer is important.

Mission:

A brand identity should have a mission to direct consumers as to where you’re going. Our logo was redesigned years ago to include “Inspired Design” and “Brilliant Results”. For the circles and “Inspired Designs” our ideas come from not just being on the computer all day but being a student of our clients, nature, art, our spirituality and so forth. We combine that with tracking, statistics and reports to lead us to better results for our clients. We’re not just about the design and we’re not just about stats. We’re about combining both better design lead by better stats which will give you brilliant results. This is what our clients strive for and we aim to deliver on.

Personality:

The colors, type, design and all should have a tone that’s all about you and your company, you and how you excite your consumer. As an example you see a new element surely meant to show love to their entrepreneurial consumers.

Multiple videos and images using the new element were released. A new light blue color was released surely there to connect with new businesses.

The actual parts of your brand may be different from other companies based on your needs and the client’s expectations. For some it’s a logo, brochure, website and business cards along with new copy. For others is a packaging design, logo, website, copy and branding guidelines document.

Branding for the New Decade

Either way in this decade you have to look out for the following:

How will I be seen in social media? How can your brand possibly be blasted to thousands/millions just by a marketing program that connects with your audience. For example Pop Tarts works with Twitter to connect to their youth. Their tone on Twitter is sarcastic and caters to that young Twitter-savy group.Can you recreate your branding to fit in each space which has its own tone? Sometimes a badly built logo (especially in font choice) will hurt you when used in different sizings.
What do you stand for? Nowadays politics in the Trump Era are non-stop. Values are important and people want to see that it’s not all about the money. How is your care for your consumer/clients being displayed? Nanawall designs and creates folding glass walls that rework spaces, such as opening up a bedroom to the outdoors. Their newest brand messaging campaign uses the tagline“Boundaries Unbound”, and other Un-words, like Unconstrained and Unprecedented to convey the unlimiting effects their products have on built spaces.
How are you looking forward in this decade? What ways can your brand be used to get out new projects, other new items and ideas? How can your brand expand at least into the next 3-5 years? One example is the new Today Show logo that was adjusted just to become more modern.
Look at the size of the circles to see the difference. The logo “pops” better in today’s more simple world.

If you follow these 3 tips along with the basics above you’ll be on the way to recreating yourself in a way that everyone in your target market could probably connect with.

For further help with your branding click here. or give us a ring to help you through the process. Here are some adwords packages available as well.

12 Dec

4 Tips On Generating Thousands of Site Visits a Day with Adwords

By Todd Sayles In Marketing Tips /

You’ve come to the understanding that increasing the amount of visitors to your website can be beneficial to you. You know that a percentage of visitors will go to the next step or even make a purchase. So now that you know that what are some of the things you could do to increase your page views. Well you could do some print advertising or email advertising or adjust your keywords on your website. All of these examples will work but they take time. A print campaign can take at lease two weeks to get going. Then steps in Google Adwords (or Google Pay-Per-Click). With Google Adwords advertising you could be up and running within a few hours. The most a day. You could go from 10 visitors a day to thousands in a day for as little as $30/day. What could $30 a day get you in the other areas we discussed? Probably a laugh or two.

So is it that easy to get them there in a day. Well it almost is. Here are the 5 most important things you can do to get started:

1. Open a Google Adwords Account:
Just go to Google Adwords and start an account. You’ll need a google email address but if you don’t have one the wizard will guide you to do that. You can receive notifications at another address as well. Once there setup a bank account or credit card for Google to bill from.

2. Create an Ad:
You have the choice of using text ads or picture ads. Text ads are quicker obviously but picture ads are very effective too. For quick purposes we’ll focus on text ads. Your text ad could be as little as this:

Google AdWords
Try Google AdWords & Get Your
Business Ads Online in Minutes!
www.google.com/AdWords

The wizard steps you through the setup of your ad and stops you when you’ve reached the text limit. Make sure to have a good landing page setup with a call to action on the other end of the url you use for people to click through too (this could be a whole other topic). Words like “Best” are great to use in the text.

3. Add keywords
It used to be that you had to do alot of this research on your own at other websites. Now Google has their own Keyword Tool that finds keywords, gives suggestions and copies keywors to different ads. What can be better than that. A one-stop-shop. Just put in your keyword, say I’m a door manufacturer so I put in “doors’. It will give back choices that are exactly what you have and others that are more specific. Just sort the form by searches (global or local) and pick the ones that have less competition and speak to what you have to offer.

4. Adjust the settings of your campaign.
There are lots of settings in this area but the most important settings for a fast campaign is two things. Daily spend and, new to google, locations and languages. The daily spend determines how much you’re willing to spend to get those thousand clicks of clicks a day. The more you spend the better opportunity your ad will have of being seen in the top x of ads. You could start as low as $30 but if you need more people coming to your site to get the desired sales you need you should increase. Do that over time after you start to see the progress.It may not be needed. Next determine your target market. If you’ve never done this here are some quesitons to ask:

Are they local?
Are they only women or only children?
What time of the day are they on the computer?

Enter this information into the system and you’re good to go. Get ready for that increased traffic to your website. You can always maximize your campaign with solid marketing techniques like goal setting, wording and strategy but this gets you off to a start. Sometimes that’s all you need, A start!

For further tips on creating your Google Adword program click here. or give us a ring to help you through the process. Here are some adwords packages available as well.

18 Dec

WordCamp US 2018 and CMCG

By Todd Sayles In WordPress /

This year, Creative Mind Consulting Group’s founder, Todd Sayles and CMCG’s Senior Web Developer, Jesse Velez, ventured out to Music City for WordPress’s Annual US WordCamp.

WordCamp’s are locally hosted events that provide workshops on a variety of topics for those who want to learn more about WordPress (and other fun stuff).

There is a WordCamp happening almost every weekend through the United States and this volunteer led event culminates with WordCamp US. The exciting event was held at beautiful and enormous the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

WordPress is a Content Management System originally focused on bloggers, but over the years it has turned into a website software used by businesses as well as blogger. There are over 33 million websites powered by WordPress.

This years sponsors include JetPack (an Automattic company), BlueHost, Google, WooCommerce, SiteLock, WPMU Dev, DreamHost, GoDaddy, SiteGround, WP Engine and many others.

On Saturday, WordCamp US, had an awesome after party at the Adventure Science Center.

Music City Center

Music City Center

Hanging out with WordFence

Hanging out with PayPal

wordcamp-us-cmcg-2018-08

wordcamp-us-cmcg-2018-03

wordcamp-us-cmcg-2018-04

Super Strength Fulcrum

Super Strength Fulcrum

After Party

The Universe

Planetarium

Donut Wall

Music Legends

Todd Sayles, CEO & Founder of Creative Mind Consulting Group, has built a successful organization that services real estate, retail, hospital and wellness clients among others. His expertise includes problem solving/market strategy, design and marketing consulting, creative design, online website development, content and design creation for digital media and print collateral, public relations, search engine optimization and collaboration with outside designers and writers.

CMThoughts

Inspiration

The Website

The List

The Location

What is a Marketing Retreat?

Isn’t a Marketing Retreat a Time Waster?

Marketing Retreats Can’t be Fun?

Marketing is not as effective as on-the-street sales. Why focus on that?

So really, what is a marketing retreat?

So is creativity essential in marketing?

Why Should Businesses Invest for Creativity in Marketing?

Get really creative!

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

2. Broken Links / Missing Images

3. Backend Editing is Hard to Work With

4 Mobile Responsiveness

5. Sales, Sales, Sales

6. Picture Piracy

7. Is Rushing Helping or Hurting?

Products

Pictures and Descriptions

Shipping

Domain:

Shopify fees

Ian on Branding

Redesigning the App Interface

Being Black in Corporate America

Audience:

Value Proposition:

Mission:

Personality:

Branding for the New Decade

Useful Links

From the Blog

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