SPRING CLEANING FOR DESIGN

Dust off your bookshelves, clean off the cobwebs, and toss out the casserole that's been molding in your fridge for the last few months. It's spring time—and that means spring cleaning. But ignoring the larger calamity of your mis-categorized CD collection, let's focus what we love to talk about best: design.

When it comes to promoting your company and its offerings, nothing makes a bigger splash than a professional, well-represented design. But sometimes that messaging gets lost. All too often, companies—especially successful, established companies—fall into the habit of mis-matching their graphics. The disorganization comes from a variety of sources, including employees who pull up their most recent document or email and grabbing whichever brand elements are handy. It may be convenient, but it's eating away at your overall look.

Take time to re-establish your company's brand standards. From your email signatures and business cards, to letterhead and the entirety of your Web presence, re-iterate your brand in a consist, predictable manner. Burn it into your customers' minds. Because sure enough, when it's time to call upon you, you want that popping up in their cranium first.

6 WAYS TO ATTRACT FACEBOOK ATTENTION

You're a business, so that means you've got a Facebook page. It's a smart decision. Keeping up with Facebook helps your site rank higher in search engines. In addition to smart SEO capabilities, providing a vibrant online community is an excellent way to score more customers and extra business. Read on for a few tips on how to take your Facebook presence from flat to fabulous.

1. Provide real value. Write what your customers want to read, instead of what you need them to hear.

2. Talk to your visitors. If someone asks a question or posts a comment, respond in a timely fashion.

3. Offer contests. Everyone loves to win, and it only takes a moment for a passerby to hit the “Like” button.

4. Start a discussion. If you can provide access to an interesting topic, people will talk. Your Facebook page's discussion tab is an excellent place to start.

5. Talk about yourself. Too often business pages fall in the habit of pushing out marketing sound bites. Talk about your company, and the people in it, openly and honestly. Share your successes. People are interested.

6. Single members out. Thank a specific person who has contributed to your business, or who is significant in some way. Others will respect the attention, and you guy will work harder for your cause.

5 QUICK TIPS FOR FINDING CUSTOMERS

Whether you're opening up a carpentry business or starting a teddy bear factory, you need customers. Offering a great product or selling a great service is nice and all, but without people consuming what you're putting out, you're going to find yourself stuck at “GO”. Try these methods to gain the attention you deserve.

Network. Attend local events and seminars that put you in contact with those you'd like to buy your product or service.

Hit the library. Look up local directories of businesses and send out sales letters.

Place advertisements. Newspapers, online, Facebook advertising, and radio spots all have this in common: they work. Aim for multiple, small advertisements when you're first starting out to find that sweet spot.

Offer promotions. And when you talk about what you're offering, talk it up. Everyone loves free samples, and the plan is that when customers are delighted with what you have to offer, they'll start mentioning you to all their friends.

Be the best. As the saying goes, there's no better advertisement than word of mouth. Astound your customers with what you have to offer, and word will get around.

SEO Surgery

Grab your scrubs and scalpels, Internet interns, because today we're opening up your SEO strategy. Whether you slice through those Google rankings like a 10 blade through adipose, or hang down at the bottom of the lists like a third-year resident, you should check out these strategies to ensure your website is optimized for search engines of all varieties.

Social Media. Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. A presence on these social media sites bumps you up in the rankings because the name and Web address of your company appears in separate places of the Internet more frequently. Search engines love this.

Keyword density. One tried-and-true method for ranking on sites like Google is riding the coat-tails of common phrases your customers are likely to punch into search engines. Pick a phrase, such as “cheap engine grease” (if that's your thing) and make sure it's repeated 2 to 3 times per page. More than that, and you'll annoy Google enough into not linking your site to the phrase.

Get mentioned. The science of SEO is this: the more you're mentioned, the higher on the rank lists you'll climb. Ways to show up more include having press releases professionally distributed (and picked up by third-party media outlets), and to blog your little heart out.

WHY YOUR BRAIN LOVES GREAT DESIGN

It happens when you see a flashy, well-organization website. Or when you're walking down the street and glance up at a magnificent new structure. Or when you open up a box of organic, whole-grain cereal, and for some reason, you just love the way the carton is put together. Great design isn't just eye candy. It's science.

When you encounter something original, you're activating parts of the brain such as the the hippocampus, the amygdala, the striatum, and the mammillary. These Harry Potter monster-esque sounding names are responsible for forming new memories—after all, that's what happens every time when you see something original. A flood of hormones and chemicals are responsible for the process, but the short of it is this: you perk up. Especially pleasing design releases dopamine, which signals pleasure and puts the viewer in a relaxed and peaceful state.

How can you tap into all this brain-bolstering power for your own marketing initiatives? Strive to be original. Put out a webpage or marketing brochure or commercial that stands out on its own merit. Make it pleasing the to eye. After all, like the birth of a memory, great design lives on long after its inception. It stays with you for the life of your company.

HAPPY PATRIOTS' DAY!

In this very special episode of the 36design blog, we'd like to take a moment and celebrate marketing opportunities that are uniquely American. Grab your musket, wrap Old Glory around your waist, and join us in this patriotic jaunt through Americana.

Land of Opportunity: Only in the good old USA can you build a business up with YouTube and bust it down with CNN. New media provides a great way to take a concept and build it up with drive and ambition. Advertising remains the key to success.

Facebook and Twitter: You guessed it, both hail from the red, white, and blue. Modern social media came about from the ingenuity of sleepy college students and old-fashioned elbow grease. In this country, we're unique poised to use these mediums as advertisements for your services, and to connect with customers and clients alike.

Celebrate consumerism: Even in the midst of a recession, people are still hopping into their SUVs to buy gigantic toaster ovens that synch with their iPods. If you can dream it, there's a market for it. Make sure you're tapping into that potential with the right sort of marketing.

FRIDAY'S QUICK TIPS FOR SALES LETTERS

It's back to basics on this holiest of all holy workdays: the day before the weekend. Forget all the razzle-dazzle of social media and augmented reality advertising and those guys who dress up as ice cream cones and dance for our twisted amusement, we're looking at the cornerstone of many a successful marketing strategy. That's right, the sales letter.

The sales letter is cheap. The sales letter is effective. It's a short, insanely well-written set of words on plain paper that makes the case for your business and the value it provides. To start off, you'll want a list of local businesses or customers who could possibly be interested in buying your fabulous products or partake of your wonderful services.

When you're putting together the letter, remember this tip: talk about your CUSTOMER, not yourself. Address their specific pain points, why they would find actual benefit it going with you over the other guy. Break your business down in human-speak; talk about what makes you different. Provide a bulleted list of your unique benefits. Don't forget to add in a “call to action”—a short sentence that tells your customer what to do after reading your letter; ie. give you a call or send you an email!

Alternatively, you could hire us to write your letter. We're brilliant every day. Now go outside and enjoy your weekend!

WHAT COCO CAN TEACH US ABOUT MARKETING

The man. The legend. The red pompadour. Whether you love him or want to send him crashing through Max Weinberg's oversized drum, you have to sit back in awe over the marketing buzz surrounding Conan O'Brien like a swarm of hilarious bees. Since his epic battle royale with man o' the chin Jay Leno and the subsequent dismissal of the Man-Who-Dances-with-Strings from NBC, people have been refreshing the dickens out of the Entertainment section of MSNBC.com to discover what happens next. Despite supposedly being out of work, Conan O'Brien has been the topic of choice for morning talk show hosts and water-cooler enthusiasts alike. And just like his talking, cigar-smoking canine companion, there's a lot he could teach us about marketing yourself (or your business).

Twitter. It's all the rage—so that's where you'll find Conan. After seeing him exert an almost god-like influence to propel an obscure teenager to near-celebrity status, is it any wonder why businesses are going the way of the tweets?

Facebook it. The “I'm with Coco” Facebook fanpage has around a million fans. Still. A lot of eyes go over every post that float through that pipeline.

Go Live. Get out. Interact. Shake hands in person. Even if it means rocking out onstage to really bizarre renditions of 70's classics.

Get them on your side. Above all, form a connection. The people are with Conan (whether you like it or not), and you can bet that will translate into dollar signs in the long run.

9 WAYS TO TACKLE SOCIAL MEDIA

On this bright and sunny Monday (at least, it is where we're living!), we thought we'd present this quick list of easy-to-digest tips for powering up your marketing efforts with social media. See if you're staying competitive in the growing realm of social media advertising. Here we go:

1. Facebook. Start a Facebook account for your business and update regularly.

2. Twitter. Post news and special happenings. Offer discounts and prizes.

3. Blog. Add value to your consumer base by posting up the latest information in your industry.

4. Mobile Market. Link up with a provider and advertise to loyal customers with SMS messages.

5. LinkedIn. Populate your business account with relevant information and network with like-minded individuals or potential customers.

6. Network. Sites like hi5 encourage active networking as a means to find a more active base of customers.

7. Start a wiki. If your business model is distinct enough to allow it, create a wiki of questions and answers, topics and responses, and encourage your community to interact.

8. Go virtual. Games like Second Life and similar entries offer unique advertising opportunities within a virtualized environment. Create a presence inside the game itself.

9. Podcast. Nothing gets a consumer base's blood pumping like some interaction with real people in your company. Start an audio podcast and get the word out there.

IT'S HERE: AUGMENTED REALITY ADVERTISING

As we firmly stated in our last blog entry, augmented reality advertising (which we'll shorten to AR, for the sake of my fingers) is not pushing product whilst partaking of the wacky weed. This science-fictionally-named brand of business-building gets its moniker from adding, to a real-world representation, a virtual overlay which includes offers, advertisements, and service options from a variety of business establishments.

Huh?

More simply stated, AR advertising is made of two parts:

A. A physical, real-world representation, such as a map or photograph montage.

B. A virtual super-imposed interface which includes information about locations—and yes, advertisements.

Think Google Maps, and its ability to superimpose highways and street names over its scarily-detailed photographic map. Then consider, what if those highways were pop-up boxes that contained information about every building and every company you scrolled across—including reviews and those oh-so seductive logos.

Companies are like EveryScape (www.everyscape.com) are already offering advertising services across a variety of media. And yes, there's an app for that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikitude. It's an app that overlays information about whatever you're staring at simply by raising up your iPhone. Wicked.

It's way too early to tell where this is going. But businesses are already making money in this new frontier. Keep your eyeballs peeled.

RETRO EDITION: WAY-BACK MARKETING MOVES THAT WORK

Ladies and gentlemen, grab your tube socks and snap on your snap bracelets—this post, 36design is going back in time. That's right, we'll be traveling back to a time where the term 'Facebook' was shorthand for Dwight D. Eisenhower's autobiography and Augmented-Reality advertising meant cold calling whilst partaking of the wacky weed. Don't tell Mashable or CNN.com, but what was true then is still true today: low tech marketing works. Though we're slowly burying some archaic marketing moves, others are alive and kicking. Here are a few low-cost, old-fashioned, big sellers.

Sales letters. A well-written, simply stated letter can you clients or customers by the thousands. One thing that -has- changed: its delivery system. Stick to email. Most snail mail letters get tossed.

Press releases. Since the modern media has been alive, businesses rely on press releases as a means of disseminating vital information while plugging their organization. With the access to instant information via the Internet, press releases are doing double duty: helping SEO while making your pitch for you.

Face time. Don't neglect the meet n' greet. With the rise of virtual companies and online offerings, nothing makes the sale better than a marketing professional willing to actually sit down and talk with you.

3 Secrets of Supercharged Sites

You've got it all: a business, a brand you're developing, and a website to back it up. You're living the high-life. Well, high roller, you may have it all, but is your site design working for you? A website is more than a pretty face, it's an engine that drives visitors to picking up the phone and becoming customers. Whatever business you're in, here are a few simple tips that maximize your investment.

Keep it clean. The worst websites in the world are cluttered. They give visitors headaches. Web surfers have notoriously short attention spans; if they can't find what they're looking for within a few seconds, consider them lost and heading towards the great informational superhighway sunset. Your website design, like the content you provide, should have a flow to it. Keep it simple, keep it poignant, and get your message across fast.

Be unique. Websites are like books, movies, and music: in order to live in people's memories, they have to stand out. Whether you do it yourself or hire design innovators like us at 36design, do something different, be bold, make your mark as personal as your business.

Make it work. Don't just make your website work—make it work FOR you. A site's purpose, besides reinforcing your brand, is connecting interested parties in your company's business. Give them a way to do that. A “call to action” is a fundamental tool in an advertiser's toolbox; it's a phrase that calls customers to give you a call, visit your online store, send you an email. Make sure you include a relevant call to action on your site!

SUPER MARIO CUSTOMERS

Floating question mark blocks. A damsel in perpetual distress. Flashing flowers that made you spit fireballs out your nostrils. Super Mario Bros. has made it into pop culture, and who'd a thunk that its colorful, 8-bit roster of characters would make such great metaphors for your potential customers? We would! For the gamer geeks among us, here's a list of friends and foes of the Mushroom Kingdom and how they relate to potential client archetypes.

Goombas: The everyvillian. One-stomp kills. These guys are soft, squishy, and easily impressionable. Stick to brand influence to sway their opinion. The feel of your company, the unique logos, website, and style of your operations can tip the balance in your favor and win these guys over to your side.

Koopa Troopas: Turtles on steroids. The utility of these shelled-evil do'ers can not be overstated. One you put these baddies back into their shell, give 'em a kick and they'll increase your score. In business, these are the referrals, the word-of-mouth movers and shakers who provide utility long after partaking of your services. Excel at what you do to put them to work.

Princess Toadstool: Always in distress. Always needing saving. These customers require your services—often in a life or death-sounding situation. Save them with your heroic product, and you'll enjoy reaping the benefits (ie. a pixelated kiss and “Game Over” music).

Cheap Cheaps: These flying fish are just that: cheap! Competitive prices and special promotions will win the day. If you're offering a great rate, get the message out to attract these scaled scrooges.