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| TIP -
IS YOUR OFFICE PHONE A "LUXURY"? |
Posted:
3/21/2008 |
Today, we hear a lot about how people are foregoing "luxury items," like vacations and the daily stop at Starbucks, because of high energy and gasoline prices and the tightening economy. The slow down of the economy will undoubtedly force you to rethink where you spend your company's budget.
Five to ten years ago, one of the first items on the chopping block was sure to be the website, either the creation of a site or the upgrading of an existing site. Back then, while having a spot on the web was becoming more and more necessary, for many businesses, it could be considered a business "luxury item." Now, it is safe to say that considering your website a "luxury item" is like thinking of your business phone service in a similar way.
Think about not only what you can (or have to, depending on your industry) spend on your online presence, but also what each dollar spent will give you in return. For example, how many sales to customers visiting your site would pay for the development? Or, how will offering your brochure and/or products online increase the number of people who learn about and purchase your products or services? These are relatively easy questions to answer with good e-commerce and traffic reporting tools that will let you know how, when and where people are finding your business.
You may also be able to work out a payment schedule with the web development company (or by simply paying with a credit card) so you can develop not only the site you need but the site you want.
These are tougher times, to be sure, and we'll all have to revisit how we spend our money, just be sure to keep the basic utilities...phone, electric, gas, AND WEBSITE all hooked up and working for you.
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| TIP -
"COMING SOON..." IS NOT WEB CONTENT |
Posted:
1/15/2008 |
Your excitement for launching a new company website may outpace the creation of content, whether it is product information, company information or important legal policies. This is natural, and for many, the task of assembling all of the content can be daunting, especially if you're still busy running the day-to-day business.
A full service web development company, such as ATI Graphics, should be skilled at helping you organize content, writing the copy and editing and creating the graphics, photos, etc. that will appear on the website.
Be sure to provide your web developer with as much information as possible, so they have something with which to work. The last thing you want on your site are links to pages that don't yet exist, or links to pages with little or no content. "Coming Soon..." is not web content, it does not instill a lot of confidence with your site visitors and it leaves a bad first impression.
Sometimes, a site needs to go live and the content is just not all there. It happens, but you're better off dropping temporary copy or content onto a page than you are by leaving a bad link or "Coming Soon..." on the page. You can always swap out the temporary content later, but you only have one shot at that first impression. |
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| TIP -
KEEP YOUR LOGO SIMPLE |
Posted:
7/8/2007 |
It
is tempting to go overboard when developing a logo. However, we recommend a "keep
it simple" philosophy when designing logos for clients. For new businesses,
it is extremely important that people understand your logo immediately. If they
have to translate your logo design, or if people cannot jot down your company
name after briefly viewing your logo, they may never find you.
Existing,
established companies have a bit more lattitude here, because they've already
earned a certain degree of name recognition. But it is still a good idea to keep
the logo scaled down. Think Coke, Microsoft, Apple, IBM. Each of these companies
sport easy to read logos that while relatively basic have helped build the respective
brands.
View some samples of
ATI logo creations in our portfolio. | | Return
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| TIP -
DON'T BE UPSOLD ON YOUR WEBSITE NEEDS |
Posted:
7/8/2007 |
Make
sure you're getting the website YOU want and need. Don't be upsold into spending
thousands more on a website. You may want to start selling your product or service
online via an e-commerce website, but there are several ways to do so. If you're
on a budget or not sure if your business will take off, you can always start small
and simple and let the new online business pay for its own expansion.
A
good web developer should offer suggestions but not pressure you into paying for
products or services that just aren't necessary for your specific needs. The technology
can be intimidating, but stick to your guns and be sure you get what you want.
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| TIP -
SPEND YOUR DEVELOPMENT BUDGET WISELY |
Posted:
7/8/2007 |
It
is true that you have to "spend money to make money." But that doesn't
mean you don't have to create a budget for your graphic design and web development
projects. Options like custom Flash animation and complex content management systems
(CMS) can double, triple, quadruple or more the cost of development. Create a
realistic budget ("nothing" isn't realistic) and find an established
designer/developer that will give you the very most bang for your buck. Have a
detailed proposal worked out ahead of time so there are no surprises.
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| TIP -
HIRE A PROFESSIONAL |
Posted:
7/8/2007 |
Even
if you decide not to go with ATI GRAPHICS, hire an experienced professional to
handle your graphic design, web development and digital imaging needs. Using a
student or employee who dabbles in design or web development may seem like the
frugal alternative. But, ultimately your needs will most likely not be met. For
example, you probably would not even consider hiring a student or novice to do
your business taxes just because he or she is good at math. It is not in your
best interest and may even hurt your business.
LEARN
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| TIP -
LOST DIGITAL PHOTOS...DON'T PANIC! |
Posted:
7/25/07 |
If
you've accidentally deleted the images from your digital media or the photos have
mysteriously disappeared from the card, don't panic. Honestly, you may have lost
the photos forever. BUT, using specialized software, there is a good chance that
they can be recovered, even if the files have been corrupted or damaged. When
you find that you can not access all or some of the images on your digital media
card (i.e. SD, CF, Memory Stick), put the suspect card aside and use another one
until digital image recovery steps can be taken to retrieve your image files.
LEARN
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| TIP -
IF YOU ADD A BLOG TO YOUR SITE, THEN MAKE SURE TO BLOG! |
Posted:
7/30/07 |
Blogging
is an excellent way to add value to your site. Adding content (text and links)
to your site via a blog can aid in SEO, and it is another reason for your clients
and potential clients to stop by your website.
However, a stale blog page
could be worse than no page at all. Be sure to keep your blog page up-to-date
and topical. Be careful to keep your opinions in check on your business blog page
so your politics doesn't scare away potential customers.
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| TIP - PRINTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS CARDS IS A BAD IDEA |
Posted:
10/30/07 |
The advantages are obvious. You can print as many or as few cards as you need, and you can make quick changes to the layout and contact info on the card.
Unfortunately, the net value of self-printed business cards is a definite negative. The perforations, though "micro" are still visible, and while inkjet technology produces extremely high quality prints, the finished product does not offer the durability of a professionally printed business card.
Self-printed cards offer a quick fix if you run out of cards, but they do not convey the professionalism that you'd like your customers (and potential customers) to see.
LEARN
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IS YOUR OFFICE PHONE A "LUXURY?"
Today, we hear a lot about how people are foregoing "luxury items," like vacations and the daily stop at Starbucks, because of high energy and gasoline prices and the tightening economy. The slow down of the economy will undoubtedly force you to rethink where you spend your company's budget...
More Tips & Resources...
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