Will our future be terrifying or exciting? Probably both. When I was a little girl, I was afraid of the future. Looking back, I suppose it could have been my choice of reading material. I read ALL the dystopian fiction, or at least as much as I could carry in my backpack. The Velveteen Rabbit,…
The end of the year is a natural time of reflection for us, both personally and professionally. Your business or organization may not be required by law to produce an annual report or impact report, but there are strategic reasons you might want to. They’re the same good reasons behind every effective piece of brand…
Do you need a new or redesigned website? I have good news for you. There are a lot more options for how to build one than ever before. But the bad news is… there are so many options! How do you decide which is best for you, your business, and your customers? Don’t worry, there’s no wrong…
Author Martin Walker has filled the website promoting his food-obsessed detective character Bruno Courreges with loads of real content related to his fictional character. This surprisingly deep site contains recipes, wine recommendations and a visitor’s guide to the Perigord region of France where the novels are set. Walker also co-authored a cookbook for Bruno with his…
Avoid lawsuits, understand your customers, members and employees, increase profits and make the world a nicer place A recent New Yorker article, “The Engineer’s Lament,” looks at well-publicized auto recall failures from an engineering perspective. In the famous cases of the exploding Pinto in the 1970s and Toyota’s sudden acceleration problems in 2009 and 2010, the car companies “[knew]…
Jeffrey Zeldman, founder of A List Apart and the Happy Cog web design studio gave a talk at An Event Apart in Orlando called “Understanding Web Design.” Here are my notes on key points: How do you describe what we do? Examples include “I make things on the internet. I design things on the internet.” These…
Here’s to the Little Guys National Small Business Week was June 17 – 21. Let’s celebrate with some marketing tips and inspiration for your small business. I love this definition of an entrepreneur: I understand the struggles of running what I fondly call a “micro business,” and oh boy does it ever take a considerable…
Protect your investment You love your web site.* You probably invested a lot of time and money into creating it. It’s a little bit like buying a car. No matter how great the car, you can’t just drive it off the lot and forget about it. You need to perform routine maintenance to keep it…
You already know you’re unique because your mother told you so. And she was right! Your company or organization is unique too. Defining what makes it stand out and communicating that to your clients, customers and prospects is key to successful branding. This is where your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition comes in. If you…
What does the new year mean to you? For me, it’s a time to set my intentions for the year to come. This ritual feels more positive and deliberate to me than a resolution, which I usually associate with giving something up. Each January, I take some time to think about what I really want…