What is Demographically Correct Advertising?

The brain child of directors Coodie & Chike and media mogul Dame Dash.
A cutting edge online content label based upon the fundamental idea of maintaining creative control over all content and production from programming to advertising.
Providing a new alternative to television with its online viewing platform and engaging content to unite our demographic through our communication and coverage of cutting edge fashion, music, and art.
True to its name, CREATIVE CONTROL maintains a high standard of integrity in its programming, advertising, and campaigns.

CreativeControl.com

Marketing to customers with a phone number that lacks vanity

Image via Wikipedia

I believe it's pretty common for companies to use telephone numbers that when the numbers are converted to letters actually spell words that cleverly help customers remember that phone number when needed. These types of telephone numbers are called vanity numbers or phonewords.

This article considers the fact that you are considering the use of your telephone phone number that DOES NOT have a hidden when translated (lacks vanity), but you want to use your telephone number to market your business.

So now you ask.
Where can you find examples of a partial word, an acronym, abbreviation, or an alphanumeric combination being used to increase memorability and increase response rates to marketing?

First you should know why so much vanity.
Many companies use these phone numbers on radio, television, print, outdoor, etc. as they are proven to increase response rates by 30-60%

So you know now that I'm talking about phone numbers like 1-800-FLOWERS or 1-800-BUSINESS or 1-800-CONTACTS... Okay... I think you've got this part down.

Now let's see how you can take your marketing to the next level. Maybe your phone number doesn't have to be so inflated pride in oneself at all.

Let's think about this a minute.
Vanity numbers or Phonewords came about before the cellular phone and the Internet. And users or marketers had radio, print advertising and word-of-mouth marketing to spread the phonewords with vanity (pun intended). Anyway, the point here is the points of contact with consumers was limited.

Here comes the whammy.
We have the Internet now and Cellular phones that do most of the connecting for us. So why not use your telephone number for your website address? Look, you may have worked or are working for a company now where half of your email address is the companies name. So?

So!
If you starting a business and everyone knows your cell phone number; use your cell phone number as your website address. Only make since. If your a Real Estate Agent with the name John and your phone number is 202-701-9393 (which has no vanity or phoneword), people would visit your website at: www.2027019393.com

Things that make you say humm?
Let's take it a step further. With regard to Realtor John... your email address would be: john@2027019393

And as normal.
Your still John now... and people call you at 202 701 9393

Where you going, there's more!
When anyone gives out your phone number, they are also dishing out your website address and part basically your email address at the same time. There are still situations where we write down information... like phone numbers and website addresses. It's also normal that you will only be able to find a small piece of paper to write on. Using your phone number as a catch-all, 3 amigo, you'll not need as big a scrap to scribe.

We only use letters (domain names) for website addresses because it makes it easier for humans to remember. However if you work very closely with clients like Real Estate Realtors, Insurance Agents, Personal Trainers, etc.; you could benefit from this marketing edge.

You may be asking, how will people I don't know find me if they don't know my phone number? The answer is; you will also register a domain name with words as normal. You could even mask your phone number url so when people go to it, the domain name with the words is displayed in the browser.

Example: you website address is www.2027019393.com but when people get your your website they would see the domain name with words that you also registered, let's say it's www.jrpremierproperties.com.

This is called masking... and there are no negative aspects to harm your website or the FCC. Just make sure you or your webguy or webgirl setup your masking properly and if you are forwarding to a different domain name... make sure you domain is set as 301 permanent redirect.
You've just learned how to use your telephone number to secure 3 points of contact and they are:

1. How to use a telephone number as your Email Address
2. How to use a telephone Number as your Web Site Domain Name with or without masking
   
3. How Telephone Numbers can be your Email, Website, Phone Number that all lead back to you.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.
Find oevae marketing consultants on the first page of Google when you search for: the best marketing consultants or the best marketing consultants in the world

Related articles by Zemanta

• Mobile payment service Zong expands to subscriptions (news.cnet.com)
• What does your phone number spell (phonespell.org)
• Domain Name Registration (worldwidewebwindow.com)
• Cell phone users open 97% of marketing text (nytimes.com)
• Available Vanity Numbers (customtollfree.com)
  

Do you need business cards or website first?

Kadek Rudi - Tour Driver" style="border: medium none ; display: block;" height="180" width="240">Image by redteam via Flickr

This is a question I hear from time-to-time from small business owners and start-ups. You can actually have your cake and eat it too.

Here's how.
This article is for those of you who have some knowledge of conducting business using business cards without a website and the opposite - conducting business with a website and no business cards. Then there are those of you who need both.

Either is fine and useful in the right marketing arena. I've used a few questions and answers to help you see if you need business cards now that you have a website or if you need a website if doing business with cards already works.

I have a website but I don't have business cards. What can I do?
You can conduct business online without giving out a business card to get people to visit your website. Before you go out an have business cards designed and printed, look for websites that allow you to build online business listings, and offer you marketing tools to increase your business connections. Go to websites like MerchantCircle.com, Kudzu.com, Google Local Business Center, Yahoo Local Listing, Yellowpages.com, etc. These are just a very few so jump on the search engines and start listing your business online now.

People browse for local business reviews on every topic you can imagine. Choose the listing that best fits your business. Now go out and have at least 100 business card printed so you have another channel to drive traffic to your website. Best of all many of these business listings are free. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true. It probably is.



I have business cards. When should I get my website?
With the saturation of text messaging and email, it's very easy to pass along the phone number of your favorite salon to your friends. It takes about 1 minute. You can even send them the salon website address and name of your hair stylist if you want. So why do a business card design and printing for nothing? The truth is there are times when you don't have your cell phone or computer under your finger tips - or should I say you should think twice. A wedding is not a great place to do business, and being on your cell phone is even worse. So if you choose the lesser of the two; go with the business card pass over texting your business info. Since you have a channel for telling people about your business with your business card, now is the time you can add a website address to your business card.

You can gain information by having a simple form on your website, update potential clients on new offers or innovations in your industry. Your website can help you tell people about the benefit of conducting business with your company. Your web site need not be more then 1 or 2 pages to add value to your brand.

It's perfectly fine to conduct business when you have business cards but no website. Keep in mind that a website will offer your company additional exposure and potential for winning new customers. So it's really up to you when and if you want to turn up the volume. Take it one day at a time and make your best educated decision after your research.

I have a website. Why do I need business cards anyway?
Business cards are a great way to advertise and market your business or push more people to your website. They can help you give people a glimpse of what your business can do. You can start building your brands mood with different colors and images that represent or backup what you have just vocalized. The business card can be passed from one recipient to a third party. Most importantly the business card allows you more opportunity to give something physical and they are a powerful way to increase referrals to your small business.

The best answer in my opinion is to go ahead and knock-out both at the same time.
Have business cards printed and your website design at the same time – if at all possible. If you receive your business cards first, don't hold back on handing out your cards if you website is not finished. You may be thinking that potential customers will go to your website and see a big-fat goose egg, zero, nothing, nada, zilch, zip. To keep this from happening, tell your web guy to add a small statement to your website about your company that tells visitors how to communicate with you while your site is being "updated." Never say "under construction." Nobody wants to hear that there dinner is almost ready and that's what "under construction" sounds like. Additionally, your visitors will be hungry for information (main purpose of the Internet anyway) and you need to at least give them a nibble. Chick-Fil A does a great job at sampling. Take note and use the same principle.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 24 Marketing Ideas for Small Business (retailsmart.com.au)
• What's in a card? (insights-group.com)
• Advertology.com - All About Advertising & Marketing (killerstartups.com)

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]">

What do Tags mean to your website?

Image via Wikipedia

The first thing Google tells you about meta Tags is that Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking. So this article is more at understanding Tags and crafting Tags for your website in a way that will help your website communicate better with the search engines so people can find your website faster and with less effort in doing so.

So that you don't read my entire soapbox yet guide to generating great tags; here's the list of topics I will cover:

Proper Title Tags, Proper Description Tags, Proper Keywords Tags, Proper Heading Tags, Page Content, Duplicate Content/Tags, Word Density, and end with Web Site Analysis.

If this all sounds like a foreign language to you. Don't bug out yet. You should at least familiarize yourself with these topics as a small business owner. These topics are very important aspects of website development that make you or make it very hard for you to have the positive results desire.

So grab a cold beverage and about 20 minutes to refresh your knowledge about Tags, learn something you didn't know about tags, or make sure you know what you're talking about when it comes to Tags and your website.

Here you go.

Well-constructed Title Tags
Well-constructed title tags contain the main keyword for the page, followed by a brief description of the page content. It will be less than 65 characters and avoid using stop words such as: a, if, the, then, and, an, to, etc. Your title tag should also be limited to the use of alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and commas.

Good Description Tags
Good description tags contain information about the page's content and persuade search engine users to visit your web site. They should be between 25 and 35 words in length.

Proper Keywords Tags
Proper keywords meta tag should contain between 5-10 keywords or keyword phrases that are also found in page content.

Proper Heading Tags
Each page of your site should use at least the H1 heading tag for the search engines that examine it when crawling your site.st the H1 heading tag for the search engines that examine it when crawling your site.

Duplicate Content/Tags
Because search engines treat web sites as a grouping of pages and not a single entity, each page on your site should be unique so that the tags and content differ between each page. Doing so increases the number of pages that will rank.

Word Density
Pages should contain 300 to 700 words of unique and descriptive content. A page's meta tag keywords should also be those that occur most frequently on the page.

Web Site Analysis
A robust analysis (including keyword usage, spiderability, and Robots.txt files and Robots Meta tags) of your website's strengths and possible weaknesses helps you remain search engine friendly. Monitoring your website analytics aka performance will help you get detailed, site-specific results faster.

That's it.
Now REMEMBER not to be discouraged if you don't see instant results. This is not minute rice we are cooking. No, knowing what Tags means you can make sure your website is and remains search engine friendly. Knowing your Tags also helps you build your online brand with maximum impact. So take your time and make subtle adjustments and monitor your website analytics.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking (googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com)
• Google doesn't use the keywords meta tag in web search (mattcutts.com)
• "Google Has A Solution For Internet Explorer: Turn It Into Chrome" and related posts (techcrunch.com)
• Google tramples on 'keywords' meta tag charge (theregister.co.uk)

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]">

Custom Website Design vs Template Web sites

Image by matt.searles via Flickr

I like this topic because it helps you decide the pros and cons of two very powerful outlets for brand building.

This article assumes that you are undecided as to which (custom web site design or template website) would serve your needs best and which is better to use for your website.

I'm the perfect person to ask because I actually offer both to my clients at my firm. I'll start off by giving you the Pros and Cons of having a custom website (like a tailor made suit) or a template website (like blueberry muffins) design for your business.

Custom Website Design PROS:

• Graphics are unique to your personality
• One-of-a-kind Brand Ability
• Allow brands the most room for brand difference

Custom Website Design CONS:

• Longer production time
• Higher Cost
• More input required of company

Template Web Site Design PROS:

• Fastest production time
• DYI (Do it Yourself) normally the main reason for use
• Lowest production cost
• Stronger Search Engine Optimization Possibilities

Template Website Design CONS:

• Limited room for personalization
• Don't normally score to high on the uniqueness scale
• Limits branding possibilities
• Cookie cutter / clone development can limit search engine optimization

Now that you know the PROS and CONS you should also know that this is not true in every situation or for every website solution.

Winner template website design: If you need several websites at one time with limited graphics. Maybe a website where people go to to sign-up to vote. There's no need for these website to be so unique and different... No, you would probably want keep information simple without advertisements, bells or whistles. In this case the Template Website would be a perfect fit.

Winner custom website design: if you are Brownie Lee Whitmill (I made that name up) and you are running for the Governor's Seat in your state... Yes, you might want to be a bit unique, different, and certainly not ware the same suit as you competition. In this case the Custom website design would be best.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Simplicity in Good Web Design : Advantages & How -to (noupe.com)
• Killer Link Building Strategies at a4u Expo (blogstorm.co.uk)

How marketing research helps consumer communications.

Image by halilgokdal via Flickr

Sometimes all you need is a little help.
There have been several opportunities aka experiences in my marketing tenure that groomed and molded me into possibly one of the best marketing consultants in the world. I believe it and Google does too. Search Google for : the best marketing consultants in the world

I'm just saying.
There have been many times that I've not been as well versed on a topic or two. Yes it is true,
I don't know everything despite the kudos above. These opportunities have opened the door for learning and adventure. Most of the time I will need extra research on a topic that concerns achieving the goal of my clients. So I'm not troubled when I sacrifice my personal time to get a better grip on a topic. I remember learning something about how the best lenses in the world are created by Essilor and another time how video would mesh with a large Nikon Pro and Nikon consumer web development projects.

With the computer keyboard in front of you and world at you finger tips, one can find just about anything someone as put there for all to see, read, and hear. I won't count the ability of touch screen as this is like petting a gorilla at the zoo behind the glass. It ain't real. I've a confidential project in development with regard to smell. I'll get back to you on that at a later date. Today you can start a business and start selling or print some business cards and dish them within a week. So we already know about the abilities of finding information there.

Go to the library and research the old frontier (books). Open a book and read more in depth about the company that trumps yours. Learn how they got there and evaluate where they are today.

Visit the book store and find a magazine from another country that talks about your industry and learn how the people in that country respond to industry changes, new products or services.

Read the annual reports of Fortune 500 companies and keep watch on new companies entering the market. Find out how they communicate with consumers and make alliances with other companies and countries.

Consult a professional in your industry or visit a trade show watch how people respond the your competitors. This means if you want to open D'oh Donut Shop, then you need to know about dough, flour, sugar, and service. You need to go around to the world looking at donut brands and how consumer like to eat them. You want to make sure you donuts are not just different but special in a substantial way that people are gonna love.

Take this information and imagine where you company would fit. If it could fit? What would make your company special? Focus for a short time on what others cannot do and why they aren't doing it. It could be that your business model is a perfect fit. You will soon be bumping into a unknown characteristics in your industry.

Again we've reached a point when some of my clients have crash landed. Recoverable, but still a crash with frustrations and anxiety about make the best choice for the big investments. An investment of time and money. Since time cannot be replaced, they come to Oevae for a little help. Because sometimes all you need is a little help. DIY marketing is not dead you know!?

That's it.
The more you know about your industry, from where it came, who is in it, who evolved from it, and who dissolved in it helps you ability to communicate with consumers.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Google In Talks To Buy Brightcove: Smart For Google, Bad For Content Owners (streamingmedia.com)
• Adobe Buys Omniture For $1.8 Billion (contentsutra.com)
• Google's crop circle doodle suggests finality (news.cnet.com)
• Bob Owens on Direct Marketing (slideshare.net)

Do you really need business cards today?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

We recently scored a gig for The Wedding Architect who's a outta-this-world wedding planner. I mean this guy has got it. I'm not trying to score kudos because I personally have shared my thoughts, opinions, suggestions, advice and the thoughts of other with him. So the air is clear in that are. Ricardo Tomas aka The Wedding Architect is the b. o. m. b.

Okay, now really!
You're probably thinking, this is supposed to be about business cards.

It is. Hang with me.
My marketing company has landed 3, 4, 5 maybe clients because of Ricardo's branding. Most say his brand is really busy or that the website has some nice Flash programming. And others comment on his business cards. Note: 80 percent of Ricardo's business is generated face to face. As it should in his line of business. This includes referrals from his past clients.

So this means?
The Wedding Architect's business cards are dangerously important to the wedding planner, wedding consultant, wedding professional, and wedding industry as a whole.

If you're thinking about entering the wedding planner industry make sure your business cards have the power to communicate your style and professionalism in less than 5 seconds.

Why five seconds to read a business card?
Think about the last time you had a conversation with someone you found to be interested in what you had to offer or your new business. This is a person that you've never seen before in your life and chances are you may never see this person again.

Now then.
While standing, sitting, lounging... whatever it is you do when you communicate, at some point in time you pass your business card(s) to this person of interest. After you hand your card over, the person receiving the card normally (hopefully) says "thanks" or "okay, great" and then looks at your card for 5 seconds tops. For this reason your business cards need to be the shizznit (great).

Kudos to Snoop Dogg with the smirk and the braids tight for the Shizzolator.

Anyway, that's only part of the solution.
Knowing you can use a business capture attention like a wedding planner might do. But what does it take or where do you get business cards? Well there's FedEx Office (formerly FedEx Kinko's, formerly, Kinko's), Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Speedy Print, Overnight Prints, MOO, 4by6, and a host of other business card printers online and probably not far from where you are right now.

What about adding the Wow factor to business card?
Who would have thought in today's world we would still be using business cards? Please. As long as we have magazines or until cell phones are free. The staple business card will be around.

The point here is that you'll most likely need a business cards if your industry uses them (business cards) as a mode in which business can be conducted. However, I doubt that Michael Phelps really needs a business card to promote his business. He's a pretty well know guy. I think he's doing okay in the branding department. But not everyone can have it like an Olympic Gold Medalist with 120 of your faces on isle #12 at the grocery story, ear to ear on the Wheaties box. No. Not everyone has that much exposure.

Take advantage of the business card in a positive way. Not pushy, shrewd but not hurting anyone... as you would normally would do while attending a business conference, at your child's parent teacher meeting, during a business mixer or happy hour, while talking to some random guy in-line at Wal Mart while holding a box of "unmentionables" under your arm.

You know you have a great business card when people complement you about them. Come on, complements are normally for great hair and or a great meal. Receiving a complement on a business card that is only 2 inches by 3.5 inches and just a bit thinner than a time, that's a big deal.

Business cards are very important when used to strategically marketing your brand. When you use your business cards as a method of building your key relationships or praying for that next big referral. Stay consistent and work your plan. And business cards a part of your marketing plan if you communicate with people face to face for business. Leave your business card with your tip at nice restaurant, with people you meet at the gym or yoga studio.

My business card was the most expensive ways I could afford to pay for when I first started Oevae back in 1999. I had a mound of creativity and many different cards for the first few years while I molded the final brand in 2001 and as it is today. In the beginning, I knew that black and white was the least expensive printing so I could cut cost on printing and today it's all the same. Back then I needed some way of holding my prospects attention for more than 5 seconds.

Yeah, I need more than 5 seconds.
When I planned to make Oevae Marketing Consultants, I need to express what our creative marketing was about and tell it quick with something they would taste later. I need my business card to cut through a steak.

So this has lead many new clients and now friends our way. So I may be slightly bias in my opinion. But again, the business card orders keep coming our way. Our clients keep telling me how much people admire their business card and where did the get them printed.

My vote is yes. You really do need business cards in today.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Networking 2.0 in a networking 1.0 world (funanymore.com)
• Just being practical (momblognetwork.com)
• Work At Home Bridal Consultant (web-workathome.com)
• Celebrity Wedding Planners Lead Crazy Lives, Need Their Own Rom-Com Immediately [Stars: Just Like Us!] (jezebel.com)