We live in a visual world saturated with symbolism.  A walk down the street brings us the sight of billboards, posters, signs in shop windows, and even vinyl graphics on corporate vehicles.  This visual saturation, which has changed the experience and process of business, began over sixty years ago, and continues to the present day unabated.  The digital revolution has, in fact, only increased the need for businesses to compete in the visual marketplace with the implementation of logos and websites that reinforce brand identity and build client loyalty.

Unfortunately, the interests of designers and business owners sometimes seem at odds.  Designers wish to push the visual envelope, creating symbolism that will astound and amaze.  Business owners are more concerned with the expense and reward side of the equation:  how much will this mark cost me?  What rewards will my business reap from it?

In general, the creation of a logo or visual identity mark can be reduced to four considerations which I have simplified into the acronym VICE:  Versatility, Interest, Creativity, and Evolution.

Versatility: The process of corporate branding involves implementation of a visual mark on as much collateral as possible.  Letter heads, business cards, envelopes, brochures and websites should all carry this new corporate identity to reinforce to the audience that  each form of collateral belongs to a single strong corporate identity.  To this end, the visual mark should be designed to be easily “read” in a variety of sizes, in digital and print format, in color and in black and white. Larger corporations will often invest in the creation of a “brand manual,” a telephone-book sized tome which specifically outlines the specifics of font size and weight as well as pantone colors (for offset printing) and hexadecimal color values (for electronic media.)  This consideration should be primary in design of the visual mark.

Interest: The logos we remember most throughout the history of business have all been visual innovations.  They become common to us in their familiarity, and yet a careful examination shows that each mark was a noteworthy mountain in the visual landscape of their era.  One fine example of this that professors in art schools are fond of using is the logo for Federal Express.  I have personally seen this logo thousands of times in my life, and never noticed the shape of an arrow hidden between the “E” and the “x” in “Express.”  This shape was deliberately placed by the logo’s designer  Lindon Leader in his redesign of the logo in 1994.

Creativity: This consideration derives from interest in a much less technical way.  In order for a mark to represent a brand in a unique way, that brand must have a unique message.  Even if the brand itself represents a fairly sterile product or service, there must be some vision or concept embodied by that brand to make it compete with other brands in the same market.  Finding ways to communicate this vision to the designer may help inspire him or her to create a unique mark; something that communicates at a more elemental level and embodies the spirit of your brand.  The most important thing one can learn about creativity is that creative vision is contagious; ideas inspire other ideas, and somewhere along the chain an idea will be inspired that will lead to the creation of a memorable visual identity.

Evolution: It is important to understand that a successful brand can stand the test of time.  While large corporations often invest in campaigns to place their visual identity in new markets, or emphasize different aspects of their brand, the key mark is often immutable.  Even when the mark is changed over time, it retains many of the key visual charactaristics that originally made it unique.

It is important, however, to be cautious about visual marks based on cultural trends.  While some of them can escape the ubiquitous de-popularization of trendy visual media, a company’s entire visual identity can be lost if it associates itself too strongly with  cultural references that will soon be forgotten.  Remembering to rely on more universal and timeless symbolism can help guarantee that your brand will not only compete in an environment saturated with visual marks and symbols, but also to evolve and grow well into the future of your company.

CAUTION: Condiments Ahead!

The Do’s and Don’ts of Popular Web Design Elements

Your web page is like a delicious meal, only instead of feeding the stomach, it feeds the brain (and the eyes, hopefully). The main purpose of your website is to deliver content, and like a good chef, a web designer knows just how to accentuate the main course with a little pinch of seasonings and condiments here and there. So how do you know when and where to use what, exactly? Let’s take a look at some common elements of web design, and how they should and shouldn’t be used.

If link rollovers were a condiment, they would definitely be ketchup. Ketchup is one of the most widely used condiments in America, and can be find everywhere from fancy restaurants to kitchen-side dinner tables. Rollovers have quickly become a simple and accepted way to facilitate page navigation. They make it easier to see what parts of your webpages are interactive, and a good web designer knows that sometimes you have to prompt the end user to let them know when it is their cue to click. They also add a little flare and get away from the days of the good old static blue text.

So what about fonts? Fonts are easily like salad dressing. There is a nearly unlimited variety of them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should use them all in one sitting. When is the last time you had a Cobb Salad with Ranch, Catalina, Bleu Cheese, Thousand Island, and Fat Free Italian all on one plate? Hopefully the answer to that question is, “Never.” On the other hand, a little spoon of Ceaser dressing can turn a pile of random roughage into a delicious treat. A good web designer will know which fonts are best for what situations, and keep them all within one unified theme to make it easier on the end user.

Flash is definitely the hot sauce of the internet. People tend to smother their websites with it, without thinking of the long-term ramifications. It all depends on your content. Flash can make delivering the content easier, prettier, and in the case of a media related website, actually give you more credibility on the subject. On the other hand, if you’re trying to get large amounts of information across, and are worried about SEO, a full frontal Flash assault isn’t always the best way to go, and can end up burning you in the long run if you’re not careful.

Ah, mayo, the smoothest criminal of all condiments. It has a variety of uses, from sandwhiches to potato salads, and is not unlike our age old friend, Color. A good, unified color scheme can really smooth out a pages aesthetic scheme. Subtle uses of gradients and shadowing can turn a boxy, awkward website into a multi-tiered three dimensional universe of awesome. On the same hand, a poorly planned, jarring color scheme can make you feel sick, and detract from your content, no matter how relevant it is to the user.

And last but not least, Microsoft Silverlight is like Worchester sauce. No one really uses it. Really, no one even knows what it is, what it does, or even how to spell it (Thank you Spell Check!).

The key thing to remember: Any of these elements, if not used in moderation and with situational awareness can overwhelm your website and detract from your content. Content is still king. You don’t go out to fancy restaurants and order a hot steaming bowl of ketchup with a side of mayonnaise (At least I hope you don’t). However, used correctly, these elements of web design can spice up a web page and make your content a little easier to swallow.

Now that’s good eats.

The internet if full of terms that can seem quite confusing.  Many sites use terms and abbreviations that they expect a person to know without even giving them a brief overview about what the terms mean.  Even when you search for the definitions of these terms some of the information you find can read like stereo instructions. Understanding all of these different terms and abbreviations may seem like a daunting task but your concern can easily be put to rest with a little information.

Click on any of the titles to read what the Webii FAQ has to say about these terms.

Bandwidth: The amount of data sent through a connection over a period of time. Also known as Data Transfer.

Catch-All Email Account: The catch-all email address is used in cases of an incorrect name or misspelling at your domain. For example, any email that is sent to someone who is not listed in the POP or forwarding sections will still be received, even if the name has a typo or is out of date (as long as the domain name on the email address was specified correctly).

Control Panel: An online collection of tools that permits easy site management.

Data Transfer: The amount of data that is transferred from an account as visitors view the pages of the web site. Using FTP to upload to files to your site  and checking emails does not apply in this case.

Dedicated Server: A computer that only runs one type of server software, and is usually constructed according to the user’s specifications. Dedicated servers are typically used for websites that have high traffic, and need many resources and much processing power.

Domain Name: The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Webii can register any available .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, or .us domain name through its registration division, SiteReserve.com.

E-Commerce: Electronic Commerce is a convenient and affordable way to sell products or services online. E-Commerce software (like SoftCart) and payment services (like ClearCommerce) enable individuals to maintain an online business while performing transactions right from the Web.

Email Forwarder: An email address in which all emails are automatically forwarded to an alternative existing email account. For instance, you may forward all email to info@youdomain.com to erika@aol.com. Also known as an Email Alias.

FrontPage: A commercial HTML editor for creating, editing, managing, and uploading web sites. Some of the special features of the program (such as a graphical counter, forms, database, etc.) require that the web site be uploaded to a server which supports Microsoft FrontPage extensions.

FrontPage Extensions: A set of server-side applications that allow you to incorporate many advanced features without having to write the complex server-side programs typically required.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): The process by which files are transferred to a web server. You have unlimited access to your web server via FTP 24-hours a day. As such, you can create and maintain your web pages on your own computer and upload files to your web site at your leisure.

Host: When you hear the term “host” in the Internet world, it is referring to an Internet company that has the required servers and software to connect domain names to (IP) Internet Protocol numbers so that your site can be viewed by the public when they type your domain in their browser window. Basically this is where you house your site, and you usually have to pay a monthly or annual fee for this service.

IP Addresses (Internet Protocol): A unique number used to identifying machines that are connected to the Internet. Your IP Address is the series of numbers associated with your domain name.

MySQL: A lightweight database engine designed to provide fast access to stored data.

Name Server: A computer that has both the software and the data needed to resolve domain names to IP numbers. Most name servers have names like NS1.whatever.com.

POP (Post Office Protocol): A communication protocol that is used to retrieve electronic mail from a Mail Server.

Script: List of commands that can be executed without user interaction.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer): A security protocol designed to create a secure connection to the server for the transmission of confidential data through the internet.

Support: Telephone or e-mail technical support provided to a web hosting company’s customers. When there’s a problem with your site or your e-mail, you want to be able to get an answer promptly by e-mail or on the phone.

Whois: A searchable database maintained by Registrars which contain information about the .com, .org, .net, and .edu top-level domains.

This question is actually more like a challenge.  The first part of the answer probably disappoints you:  it depends. The best marketing tool depends on things like your industry, your audience, and your goals, among other things.  To help you answer this question for your own business, I offer some case examples.

Referral-style example: Angie’s List is an online service that is growing in popularity.  Many small businesses are thriving with prospective customers because one individual gave them a stellar recommendation on Angie’s List.  But this web site is really more applicable to consumer focused businesses and especially household services, like construction, repair, or house cleaning.   Plus, it is a consumer driven web site, so your company cannot just buy into a testimonial spot and suddenly gain exposure.  Instead, you might encourage your customers who are already part of that community to post a comment about you and start that process.  In this case, you have an excellent ROI because you didn’t spend any cash, you just resourced your existing happy customers and a little time asking and researching.  However, this service isn’t very valuable to you, if you only have B-to-B services that don’t fit this web site’s audience.

Paid advertising example: Google Adwords is one of the most popular method to self-manage your online marketing efforts.  With their service, you are able to specify a budget and only bid on key phrases that matter to your line of business and only end up paying for instances when a visitor actually clicked through your ad.  But there is some science to this and if you don’t pay attention and invest either some of your own time researching or pay an expert to do it, you may just be throwing that money away.  A great example I heard once is that you can easily spend $300 per month on the keyword “watermelon” but if you don’t sell watermelons, that traffic was worth $0.

And don’t forget, I also mentioned the word goals.  If your initial goal for this marketing campaign is only to create brand awareness, and not to drive actual sales on your e-commerce site, then you can explore a series of available online tools both free and paid.  Brand awareness sometimes even has a completely separate budget than “marketing”.

You might decide to spend your time participating in social networking web sites, blogging everyday, and answering questions on a forum or newsgroup for your industry.  Then with your monetary resources, you might post a series of online banner ads on some high traffic web sites that cater to the audience you are going for, and feature yourself as a sponsor for a local e-newsletter.  These are usually fairly low cost if you focus on a niche or geographically targeted publication.

So our tip for today is to think about these 3 things: industry, audience, and goals – and try to define at least 3 resources that fit all of those factors.  If you can fine tune your strategy in this way, you are more likely to get a return on your investment than if you blindly do the “try and see” across a broader scale.

As we have mentioned before, there are a lot of methods that deceptive domain registrars use to trick you into registering a domain with them. One trick we previously mentioned involved sending a final extension notice for a domain that you never even registered.

A new trick these companies are using involves sending an email that says you have a possible domain name dispute with someone trying to register your domain name with Chinese or Asian extensions (such as .cn and .asia). This email is a ruse intended to scare you into registering a foreign domain through their company—usually at a highly inflated price.

This is becoming an all too common tactic with some domain registrars. It works because they rely on your fear to keep you from rationally evaluating the situation. When you receive an unexpected notice ask yourself a few simple questions.

Do you trust the source of the information?
Do you do business in the countries the notice refers to?
Do you really care about yourdomainname.cn or yourdomainname.asia?

If you decide to purchase one of those domain names, make sure you shop around and get the best value for your money. The unscrupulous company that sent you the email will often charge a much higher price than their competitors.

Remember to do your research and always verify the source of unsolicited information.

There are two kinds of internet marketing, the kind that works, and the other kind. Mimicry has become less a form of flattery, and more of a standard operation procedure, so who better to mimic than the man who marketed himself so well that he became one of the most powerful men in the world. So how did he do it?

Accessibility.

Barack Obama understood that you need to reach people where they are comfortable. He had a website, a blog, a Twitter page, a Facebook page, participated in online discussions, and had thousands of links on social bookmarking sites ( Digg, Reddit, etc.), all in addition to the voluminous amount of print, radio,tv advertisements, and interviews for his campaign. .

Obama’s internet marketing campaign relied heavily on his willingness to put himself outside of traditional political marketing mediums. Step outside of your comfort zones and market your business wherever you can. Post business updates on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Start a blog for your business and submit posts to Digg, Delicious, Reditt, and every other social networking site that you can find. Post on forums that relate to your industry—it is a great way to showcase your knowledge while helping people.

Internet marketing has become a very hot topic, because of the constant battle for market share,and since the concept of internet marketing is fairly new, many otherwise qualified professionals think that the only way to market their business online is to hire a professional. While there are always advantages to hiring a professional, there are many things that you yourself can do to increase your company’s online profile,so shake up your traditional business marketing. With a little knowledge and willingness to put your business out there, you can build a company image that will have customers cheering your name. Now that’s change you can believe in.