I was craving burgers while in self-isolation and while I’m normally a pretty big carnivore it seemed like a great opportunity to try something new and clean out the pantry a bit. If you notice any atypical ingredients that was out of necessity. The goal was to make the best burger with what I had without running to the store. I dug deep into the freezer as well. It all ended up pretty tasty.
Over the last decade consulting hundreds of businesses and communications professionals on digital and social media communications – “What are hashtags and how should I use them?” have been two of the most common questions people ask. It has also become clear that many businesses that think they understand hashtags are actually not using them to their full potential. For that reason I put together a short and sweet summary to help you understand hashtags and how to use them to get more customers while engaging your current audience.
I wrote this article when I was working at Destination Think! consulting dozens of tourism businesses across North America on how to improve their products (services) and promotions for “connected customers”. I have decided to republish it here for 2020 as it seems more relevant than ever. I hope you enjoy it and please contact me with any questions or for a personal ideation conversation.
My marketing and branding company COFFEE was excited to get the nod to create the logo for Ucluelet Brewing Co. – BC’s newest craft brewery (slated to open early 2020).
An expression of asymmetrical balance, strong but feminine, adventurous and stable.
Logging in to check some GoDaddy domains this morning I was surprised to see serifs where once there was none. While the usually login screen which has featured a smiling GoDaddy call-center rep for several years was also gone, (perhaps they realized people buy the hole not the drill, or that positioning themselves on service was not exactly putting their best foot forward) the simple change to the font let me know something big was afoot. GoDaddy has been Wix-Space-ified.
Creating communications content requires a significant investment of your time and effort. It is unwise to neglect the techniques available to you to maximize your audience and the potential impact of your message.
This year I am doubling down on the power of experiences and communications that are shareable by design in my own businesses and the attention grabbing solutions we build for our clients at COFFEE Business Stimulus. Watch this space (or better yet subscribe) to see a collection of our and other’s outputs that capitalize on the Socialgenic ethos (stimulating peer to peer sharing by design).
As I work with my clients UclueletBrewing.ca, CameronOceanAdventures.com and TheTantalusGroup.com I have identified some great tools and simple SEO tips that I am happy to share. Please hit me back with your top simple SEO tips in the comments so we can learn together and build a resource.
Are you creating a simple mood board? Consider Pinterest.com. Here are a few reasons:
With a “secret board”, you can easily collect inspiration and keep links to the original page in one click.
Pinterest also makes it really easy to share the board with clients and have them contribute cooperatively.
Only folks you invite can see the board and you can uninvite them.
As you filter your pics to your final list you can easily create sub-boards (i.e. PEOPLE Final) and tag the key inspirations there without losing them in the original list.
Pinterest is a free way to create mood boards fast.
Brand Positioning and Origin Story Image Spiderman
Hulk smash! Why is there no good Brand Positioning Chart image on web!?!
While it is a great time to be an entrepreneur with almost every visual asset you need can be found quickly through a Google Search, a great example of a brand positioning chart is not one of them. As I was searching for one to use with my COFFEE Business Stimulus clients I found it to be as elusive as a cagey super villain. So I decided engage the help of a few super friends to do my part to make the internet a better place and upload one here.
This positioning chart plots popular super heroes vs. one another, not in a battle to determine the fate of mankind but by how far they are from human and how many benjamins they have.
Tied closely to another mythical marketing tool – Origin Story – Positioning is the most essential part of any brand strategy. Are you clear where you fit in and how you can soar above your competition? Your origin story is the unique set of circumstances and choices that lead to your super powers (a combination of skills and attributes) that few others have.