18 Most Recent Articles
Written By: Erin Ferree

1	Getting The Best Work From Your Graphic Designer Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-11-02 | - Word Count: 717 | Viewed: 2834 | Votes: 5 | Rating: 3.60 A graphic designer's goal is to provide you with the logos, artwork, and page designs that best fit your business, personality, industry, and target market and that convey your offerings and differentiators. The experience of reaching that goal can be extremely smooth and pleasant if you know what to expect up front, and if you understand that you do need to work with your designer rather than just letting them loose to create.
2	Why Isn't Your Website Working Well? Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-09-14 | - Word Count: 799 | Viewed: 1472 | Votes: 8 | Rating: 2.13 One of the biggest problems that small businesses face is ineffective websites. A website is often one of the largest start-up marketing expenses for a small business; unfortunately, many small businesses never see a return on that investment.
3	The Art of Website Maintenance Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-08-24 | - Word Count: 1103 | Viewed: 1093 | Votes: 6 | Rating: 2.00 Now that you've designed and launched your website, you have a powerful marketing tool for your business. But, your website is only as useful as the content is current. The process of keeping the content on your site current is called website maintenance, and it's important to keep both visitors and search engines supplied with new information. Just like regular maintenance on your car, you have to make changes on your website every few months to make sure that things run smoothly.
4	The Role of a Visual Vocabulary in Brand Identity Design Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-08-08 | - Word Count: 934 | Viewed: 2884 | Votes: 10 | Rating: 2.60 Visual elements are a major part of your business's brand identity design. The keystone of that design is the logo, but in many cases, the logo isn't enough to convey all of your brand attributes. A visual vocabulary is a way to reinforce and add to the messaging that is contained in your logo.
5	The Three Must-Have Marketing Pieces Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-07-18 | - Word Count: 1650 | Viewed: 1211 | Votes: 10 | Rating: 2.50 You've designed your logo. Now you need to create some great marketing pieces to promote your business. But what pieces to create? There are so many options available that it can be difficult to decide which pieces will be the strongest and best way to publicize your business. No matter what that business is, we recommend these pieces as a first step toward marketing it.
6	How to Determine Whether You've Chosen a Good Niche Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-07-12 | - Word Count: 635 | Viewed: 1254 | Votes: 8 | Rating: 2.50 Choosing a niche--a small, focused target market--for your services can be very beneficial to your business. It will help your clients to focus on and identify the services that you offer, and it will help you to develop deep expertise in a single area--and "niching" will help you to raise your rates and create a successful business.
7	Finding a Graphic Designer Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-07-06 | - Word Count: 1377 | Viewed: 2450 | Votes: 9 | Rating: 2.11 Are you ready to hire someone to design your logo, collaterals, or artwork for your website? Well, here's just the information you need to create the best relationship with your graphic designer.
8	The Great Two-Sided Business Card Debate Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-06-21 | - Word Count: 832 | Viewed: 1858 | Votes: 5 | Rating: 1.80 One of the most debated points in business card design is whether to print information on just one side of the card or to use both sides. There are many views on this controversy, and here are some that we frequently hear.
9	The Layers of Your Brand and How Your Brand Helps Your Business Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-06-15 | - Word Count: 1033 | Viewed: 1542 | Votes: 8 | Rating: 2.88 Branding is a hot topic in marketing these days, but it's defined in different ways and looked at from different angles. There are many components that make up a brand, and we call each component a Brand Layer. Here are our definitions of some of the most important Brand Layers:
10	Font Basics for Small Business's Logo and Brand Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-06-06 | - Word Count: 1454 | Viewed: 1994 | Votes: 6 | Rating: 1.83 There are many components of a brand identity: logo, color palette, font choice, and the Visual Vocabulary. There's a lot of information available about the use of logos, colors, and Visual Vocabulary, but not much on the effective use of fonts. So, here's some information on the creative, practical, and technical aspects of fonts.
11	Define Your Difference - To Stand Out and Make Your Business Shine! Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-06-02 | - Word Count: 556 | Viewed: 1484 | Votes: 11 | Rating: 2.09 Thoughtfully defining your business - and your differentiation - will help you to understand who you are, what you do, and what makes you different. Not many small businesses take the time to answer those core questions about their business, but those answers are essential to creating a strong brand identity, focused messaging, and effective marketing materials.
12	Types of Logos: Text, Symbol and Combination Logos Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-01-27 | There are three basic types of logos: text, symbol, and combination logos. The type of logo that will work best for your company depends on a number of considerations...
13	Create Your Marketing Machine to Plan for Marketing Success Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2006-01-06 | Do you ever feel like you're constantly running around, trying to get your marketing materials put together and out the door? You are not alone...
14	Attract More Clients With A Brand Identity Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2005-05-24 | You've probably heard that people buy products and services from people they know, like and trust. And, as I have done, you've probably wondered how you can foster more of this 'Know-Like-Trust' factor in your business relationships.
15	Three Brand Identity Myths That Will Bring Your Business Down Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2005-05-20 | To begin, let’s define “Brand Identity,” which is the combination of consistent visual elements that are used in your marketing materials. A basic Brand Identity Kit consists of...
16	No Logo? Launching a Business Without a Logo Can Sabotage You Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2005-04-28 | Designing your own marketing materials when you launch your business, instead of having them professionally created, will make getting those initial clients more difficult, and may result in a business that will not succeed.
17	Why Small Businesses Need Both a Logo and an Identity System Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2005-02-24 | Experts urge small business owners to *brand* their business ­ to use a logo and a set of consistent marketing materials. But, they rarely go into the reasons behind this advice.
18	9 Keys to an Effective Logo Written by: Erin Ferree | Distributed: 2005-02-16 | The right logo, with the right characteristics, will boost your visibility, credibility and memorablity ­ which means more business for you!