Month: August, 2011

Choosing a Designer Is A Lot Like Buying A Car

Choosing a good designer is a lot like picking out your next car; there are lots of options (style, cost, speed, etc.) and you should weigh all of them carefully to find the best option for you.

If price is your #1 concern, you can be frugal and opt for a low-end model. A quick Google or Craigslist search will reveal plenty of students, small-time freelancers and even crowdsourcing websites who are willing to do projects for next to nothing. But, be careful…you might find that you get what you pay for. Just like a used car dealership, some designers are heavy on salesmanship but never end up delivering on a quality product. In the long run, you might get stuck with a huge repair bill for a clunker of a car.

If money is no object and you want to make a big splash, a luxury model is your best bet. There are plenty of Mercedes- and BMW-style agencies around… you know the types: large, shiny offices downtown with a roster of big-name clients in the lobby. Sure, they have a lot of experience, but you’re also paying a lot for the brand name.

I like to tell my clients that I am the Volkswagen of designers. Slightly quirky. A little trendy. Dependable and well built. Light-hearted and fun. Affordable, but not cheap. Overall, a good bargain for a quality product.

I’m interested in hearing your perspective… if you’re a designer, what type of car would you describe yourself as to new clients? If you’re a potential client, what type of car are you looking to buy?

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jen Lombardi is the head honcho and creative genius at Kiwi Creative, a suburban Cleveland marketing and branding studio helping small- and medium-sized companies grow their business through innovative and effective communications. With experience in graphic design, web programming, content development, social media and online strategy, Kiwi Creative offers all the expertise of a full-service agency with an affordable price tag.
Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kiwicreativeoh) or Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/kiwicreativeoh)

 

No Comments by on August 30, 2011
filed in How To...
tagged , , , , ,

Life Lessons of a Creative Small Business Owner – Part 1

It’s been exactly one month since I left my full-time job, so I thought it’d be interesting to share a few “life lessons” I’ve picked up over the past few weeks. I’m sure I’ll be able to write an entire novel of these things by the time I retire (hey, that’s not a bad idea…), so maybe I’ll make this a quarterly article topic.

  • Don’t be afraid to have a personality. One of the reasons I bailed from the downtown advertising scene was that it was becoming too corporate. And I strongly believe that creatives should have fun at their jobs – it’s one of the best perks of our profession. I’ve tried really hard to infuse my casual and slightly quirky personality throughout Kiwi’s website, and it’s received a lot of positive feedback from clients. In fact, I like to think that it’s one of my biggest selling points and sets me apart from other blaaaaah marketing firms who promise generic crap like “great results and professional customer service.” Boring.
  • Email marketing works. Remember that saying “you’re the right person, it’s just the wrong time”? It’s not just for teenage romances – the same thing applies to client relationships. Sending out a single email newsletter has reconnected me with at least three old contacts who I hadn’t spoken to in months. All of them have upcoming projects and were interested in my newer services in the areas of web design and online marketing. If you’re a bit shy or don’t want to send out a corny “heeeeey, how ya doing?” email message to individuals, why not just start a newsletter? It’s a great way to stay top-of-mind with old and new clients. Plus, it’s a perfect way to show of your mad skills in email marketing and design, right?
  • Turn down bad clients and bad projects. You shouldn’t be the right person for every project that comes your way. Be strong enough to recognize when the budget is too low or the work isn’t satisfying; then, spend your time looking for better projects rather than whoring yourself out for subpar work. You’ll just become resentful of your client and upset that you compromised your standards. (Yeah yeah, I know. Easier said than done. I struggle with this one every day.)
  • Office construction will always run behind schedule. Flooring is back ordered. The architect is on vacation. The electrician is MIA. In other words, shit happens. And as much as I don’t like having the cats run all over my keyboard when they want a late-afternoon snack, you just have to deal. A good life lesson in general, no?

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jen Lombardi is the head honcho and creative genius at Kiwi Creative, a suburban Cleveland marketing and branding studio helping small- and medium-sized companies grow their business through innovative and effective communications. With experience in graphic design, web programming, content development, social media and online strategy, Kiwi Creative offers all the expertise of a full-service agency with an affordable price tag.
Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kiwicreativeoh) or Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/kiwicreativeoh)

 

3 Comments by on August 18, 2011
filed in Adventures in Small Business
tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Colorful Pantone Jewelry

What do you do with two old books full of Pantone chips? Well, if you’re “Defenstration,” an Etsy crafter from Jersey City, NJ, you make jewelry, of course!

As mentioned in the past, I’m a huge fan of both jewelry (HTML <head> tag earrings, anyone?) AND anything Pantone-related (yummy, cookies!), so it goes without saying that my inner design nerd is drooling over this artist’s earrings and bracelets. (Did I mention my birthday is less than a month away?)

What are you waiting for? Check out her Etsy shop today.

(And I mean today… she’s a getting a lot of coverage in the blog-o-sphere, so I’m sure she’ll sell out quickly!)

No Comments by on August 8, 2011
filed in Magnificent Merch
tagged , , , , , ,

How To Override Image Preview for Facebook Links and How To Force Refresh Facebook’s Cache

One of the coolest features when posting a link to Facebook is the image preview and meta tag description that automatically pops up alongside the link. Not only are these details important in reassuring your audience that a post isn’t spam, but they also serve as great teaser which increases the click through rate on posted links.

But what happens when Facebook’s link sharing preview doesn’t work exactly as expected? Major frustration for any web developer.

Here are two common problems I used to experience and easy tricks to fix ‘em (if you have access to a website’s source code):

Problem #1: “Facebook isn’t pulling any images from my website, but clearly there’s at least ONE photo on the page.” Or, “Facebook is only detecting weird images on my page, not the one I want it to.”

Solution #2: Facebook won’t detect photos embedded as background div images via CSS, but it will detect graphics inserted the regular <img src=”xxxx”> tag. If you don’t have any “normal” images, or if those aren’t the ones you want showing up as the thumbnail preview, override the automatic settings and manually choose an image preview for Facebook following these easy steps:

  1. Chose a graphic you want to use as the new preview. Good examples would be the logo or a screenshot of the webpage. Really, anything will work as long as it is relevant to the link and will look good at a small size.
  2. If your image is too large, use an image editing program to shrink the width down to about 250px. (It’ll never appear larger than that, so why waste server space and compromise load time?)
  3. Upload your new optimized image to your web hosting server.
  4. Insert this code in the <head> tag of the page you’ll be referencing:  <link rel=”image_src” href=”http://full_url_of_the_hosted_image” />
  5. Voila! Facebook will now detect the image preview that YOU want, not the one it automatically finds for you.

Oh, wait… you tested your link in Facebook and it’s still showing up as the old preview? Read on to super frustrating problem #2…

Problem #2: “Facebook keeps showing the old image preview / page title / meta description, even though I just updated it.”

Solution #2: Facebook has very overzealous cache which seems to last foooooreeeeeever when you’re trying to test a link! Force clear Facebook’s cache to show updated content by using their “URL Linter” tool: http://developers.facebook.com/tools/lint/

(OK, so really this is a general tool to help you debug your URLs as they relate to using the “like” button. But an awesome side effect is it forces Facebook to reindex your website which will find your new content! Read more about the URL Linter on Facebook’s Developer Blog.)

I hope you’ve found these two tips useful in dealing with Facebook’s (sometimes frustrating) image preview option when posting links. It’s nice to know there’s a way to override the automatic settings, huh? :)

P.S. While you’re on Facebook, why don’t you check out our fan page? We’d love for you to “like” us: http://www.facebook.com/kiwicreativeoh

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

Jen Lombardi is the head honcho and creative genius at Kiwi Creative, a suburban Cleveland marketing and branding studio helping small- and medium-sized companies grow their business through innovative and effective communications. With experience in graphic design, web programming, content development, social media and online strategy, Kiwi Creative offers all the expertise of a full-service agency with an affordable price tag.

Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kiwicreativeoh) or Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/kiwicreativeoh)

 

3 Comments by on August 7, 2011
filed in Coding Craziness
tagged , , , , , , , , ,