Craft Your Website To Engage Customers

Millions of websites are viewed by thousands per day, but not too many stay on a website for over 30 seconds. When a customer visits a particular webpage and leaves the site after 30 seconds, that website’s bounce rate increases. This could be due to many factors. We have narrowed down a short checklist for you to cover when crafting the perfect website for your company.

Responsiveness counts.

If your site isn’t already responsive, you need a new design, as this is the main concern pertaining to websites in general, even over aesthetic appeal! Make sure your website is sized for viewing on multiple devices: mobile use, tablet use, computer use for both large and small monitors and even for viewing on a watch. Budget this into your marketing financials to monitor SEO performance and make changes along the way for maximum optimized viewing.

Keep it simple.

Make sure whoever is visiting your website, whether a savvy 16-year-old or your grandmother, anyone should be able to get to where he or she wants to go in only three clicks of the mouse.

Ghost buttons to envy.

Ghost buttons provide a minimal and classy look to keys or switches placed over images, content, or a blank section of your website. Ghost buttons are also an amazing call-to-action piece, drawing in both customers and outside designers. Not to mention the speed of your website will experience an increase in speed!

Typography matters.

Think nobody notices what font you use? Wrong. If you select an ugly font, customers will notice right away. Even if customers do not have an automatic reaction to your font choice, their subconscious will because fonts form an emphasis on what your company represents value and ethics wise. If you already know ‘content is king’ this will be no surprise to you.

Design defines.

Overall, your company will be based on its overall visual appearance. Flat designs started to trend in 2014 and continue to have momentum through mid-2015. This is due to how we consume content and our need for less is more. By taking on the minimalist approach, your customers will spend more time on your website and be more inclined to share your website with others.

Tip: Our website actually uses a flat design for example!

Make sure everything works well on your website, that there are no broken links or faulty images. Your website speaks volumes and taking the little time to update once, if not twice, a year, along with continually providing new content and call-to-action pieces will drop your bounce rate and attract new clients. Take care of your website so it can take care of your company.

Three Habits of Successful and Happy Professionals

Getting tied down by the burdens in our daily lives, especially when we ignore the opportunities to file away stresses as they arise, will eventually push you past your breaking point and over the edge. The little things accumulate until we self-inflict ourselves to the point of panic attacks or hitting up Happy Hour regularly after work hours. This is not how life should be lead. Happiness is a choice, not to say an easy choice, but an attainable choice for anyone if he or she actually wants to smile.

Try doing the following on a weekly basis, aim to be consistent for a month to start your lifestyle change, and we can guarantee you will be not only a happier person, but a happier person with a lot more energy! 

Enjoy Your Weekends

Instead of spending your time cleaning, doing laundry, or other chores, try to complete these chores during the week for personal freedom on the weekends. Think of it this way, there are five weeknights to separate tasks … dust one night, vacuum the next, with one load of laundry each night, and voila! Freedom at last to do whatever you please for two entire days!

Be Active

An active life is a happy life … and that’s a fact! Dopamine (the chemical substance that plays a large role in happiness) depletes as we age and it becomes more pertinent that we exercise regularly. Exercise will increase the volume of Dopamine in your body, making you less stressed, more energized, boost your confidence and ease anxiety.

Often, people are discouraged by the thought of “working out” because, well, it is indeed work. If the gym isn’t your thing, partake in a less labor some activity like hiking, swimming, or play a sport. The point is to move around and get your blood pumping.

Create Your Schedule

People who routinely make it a point to get to bed at a decent time, wake up early, spend time with loved ones, and don’t work more than you have to are proven to live happier lives. People who get enough sleep are less affected by negative emotions, making them less sensitive while also improving focus and productivity. People that surround themselves with good company have more opportunities for laughter and people that close an excel file until tomorrow have more time for themselves.

Overall, being happy boils down to a healthy lifestyle. Eating well, getting enough sleep, staying active, focusing on what needs to be done to be productive by eliminating interruptions and creative killers is something we have been taught since elementary school or even prior. These are not hard to accomplish if you try; eventually, second nature will take hold and old habits will die easier than you think.

How To Freelance With Little Experience

All too often people are discouraged by the idea of freelancing. Freelancing can be stressful regarding not knowing when your next pay check will come in, but the task itself is anything but difficult to accomplish when putting your best foot forth. Here are some tips to keep in mind when entering the realm of freelance work.

Make yourself stand out

The reality of competing against other applicants is that you both may be able to produce the same results, but the client wants someone they feel they can trust to get the job done on time and meets the client’s standards. Differentiation is key!

Update your resumé regularly and make sure the most up-to-date version is uploaded to your profile. Completely fill our your profile on job sites for freelancers, as well as professional networks like LinkedIn. Take the time to verify your account. Provide examples, references, and any credits applicable to illustrate you have not only actually completed the project listed in your profile, but that client was happy with what they received! Provide examples of your projects to illustrate your greatness beyond references and credits. Lastly, have a catchy tagline associated with your name so people can see how capable you are of offering something different.

Where to find work

There are endless websites to find work! Websites like: Elance, Fiverr, Freelancer.com, Guru and oDesk are some of the more popular ones, but work can be found even on sites like Craigslist and the Facebook Marketplace. Make sure to check the websites and your email daily for notifications and updates regarding a job you applied. Check daily rather than every other day so the client does not opt to give the job to another applicant over you due to lack of response time.

Highlight your qualities

Do not fall into the category “jack of all trades, master of none.” Define what you are good at to a specific skillset; about 5 to 7 skills will be fine. Try to have your skills correlate together in some aspect. For instance, copywriting, social media, and content marketing can all work together. Clients will be more inclined to award you with a job if they feel your skills align, as well as possibly persuaded to hire you for more than one job.

Keep your clients happy

This does not change from the salary world to the freelance realm. If your client is happy, they will hire you again over posting, finding, and hiring another … it is simply easier and more efficient on the client’s part. Simplicity goes far!

Send an initial job confirmation email to your client highlighting the expected completion time for the project you will be working on for the amount of money you will be receiving. This will further confirm you and your client are on the same page before getting half way through the project to realize something was miscommunicated. Proofread everything, and cross-reference information if accessible. Make sure to save your file by a simple to read title and the format (PDF, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) you save will open on the client’s end. List your name, company (if you have one), word count, target market (demographics), and title at the top of your project.

After you have completed your assignment, sent the project over to the client, and received full payment from client for your work, follow-up with the client saying thank you for the opportunity to work together and if there is anything else they need completed in the future be sure to let you know. You can even take that final step and say you will put their work first before other clients, or some other benefit to reel them back in for more work.

If you have not already gathered, freelance work is far from scary, just time consuming. Fill out one profile and start from there to see who responds to your work. The worst that will happen is nothing if you don’t try!

Social Media Guide For Beginners

Social media marketing is all about joining the conversation and interacting with people through our virtual world called the Internet. Here, we can take part in the essentials of connecting with people around the world to build relationships. Let’s take a look at the key essentials to hit on a daily basis per each main social media outlet.

Facebook

Post twice a day to double your reach. The more frequently you post, the more interaction you will receive. However, be sure to keep in mind the quality of posts that you are putting out into the world. Frequency is very helpful, but not if your posts are perceived to be irritating, annoying, or irrelevant to anyone it reaches. Make sure you aren’t posting simply for the sake of posting!

This goes for every other social media as well. If your business is set up as a profile, make sure you only accept friend requests that are relevant for engagement as you only receive 5,000 friends. However, users will be able to ‘follow’ you after you have hit that 5,000 maximum. We suggest setting your business up as a page so you users can provide feedback and rate your company. Don’t worry, every business can manage ratings if ‘trolling occurs’. Place your address, hours, and contact number, along with a clear photo for optimal exposure and notice.

Twitter

The more you tweet, the more followers you will receive. But who wants to be sitting at a computer tweeting all day? Nobody. Use a social media tool to assist you. We suggest app Tweet Adder for this. You can load multiple tweets at once and schedule them to go execute at peak traffic times. Photos (always) work well to gain attention, but the factor that matters most for high exposure and follow-back rate is the mentions of other accounts. For instance, if you are an architectural firm, make sure the tag along with hashtag The American Institute of Architects. This way, AIA is inclined to re-tweet or repost your tweet. Followers like to follow people that publications recognize, making that Twitter user appear to be appealing.

Tip: A ‘tag’ is simply an at sign “@” sign followed by a username to create a link to that user’s page. This will also alert that user that you have tagged them, providing the option for a re-tweet.

Tip: A “hashtag” is simply a pound symbol “#” used as a keyword term that crawlers or search engines browse for, ranking back into Google Analytics to hopefully boost your activity up higher in search engine results.

Google+

Google+ is not used as much as Facebook or Twitter quite yet, but it’s gaining fairly quickly in popularity. Google+ will ultimately have an advantage as they are also the powerhouse dominating company that gives the world over 90 percent of its search results. Google+ automatically assigns top keywords associated with that post, and also tracks the number of page views along with a follower account. Google+ allows for business profile pages in addition to individual profiles.

Instagram

The photo-based application that is only accessible via mobile is the new addiction your fingers can’t let go of … at least for millennials and under (age wise). Larger publications have also started using Instagram as photos and videos catch your attention more than a paragraph of information to read.

Pinterest

Photos are only allowed on this site, but differing from Instagram, Pinterest allows a photo to link back to the photo’s initial location for further information such as a recipe, which would be attached to a food photo or an ecommerce site regarding home décor photos. The possibilities are endless!

Each social domain has its own unique attributes so take the time to browse through and learn the possibilities of each one to know which will work best for your company or person. Think Agency recommends having an account on every social site, even just to save the domain! 

Society Fooled By Adobe's Photoshop

Society stresses the over-use of Photoshop, a photo-editing program by Adobe, on public figures, claiming the program blurs the line of what is real and what is fake.

Photos streaming the Internet community make headlines every time a celebrity’s unedited photos get leaked. Companies release campaigns that get bashed by the public for being ‘too Photoshopped’. The truly blurred lines between Photoshop and reality debuts from misguided truths of what is actually touched-up and what is not.

Photoshop is a post-production tool used to correct minor flaws and not for sole creation alone. Advertisements displayed across the inner beginning pages of Vogue Magazine are seen as flawless, making the viewer questions its authenticity. In March of 2013, L’Oreal “permanently discontinued” a set of mascara campaign advertisements due to claims of excessive Photoshop. But what goes into that L’Oreal headshot alone?

To start an advertising campaign, the company selects a model or celebrity to represent the brand or product. Usually the model already has close to flawless skin. Liquid makeup is placed on the models skin for an overall smooth base of foundation. Then a professional makeup artist applies high-quality makeup exclusive to specialists in the industry. After all of this is said and done, the photo shoot takes place and the photographer will then retouch the images to remove flyaway strands of hair, control light (if need be), and other small errors that would take the reader’s eye away from the brand or product.

The public is overly misled by how Photoshop works, what its purpose is, and who uses Photoshop. When it is even being used the statement, “it’s too Photoshopped,” has become a regularly occurrence. The photo shoot was probably a full-day production, with numerous salaries at work and endless light changes.

This year marks Photoshop’s 25^th birthday with the Alex Amado, Adobe’s senior director of creative and media, claiming “a huge milestone” for the photo-editing software program.

"It's the tool we put out into the world that's had the broadest impact," Amado said. "It's used in the design process of pretty much everything we see and touch these days—every ad you've reviewed, all the photography in every publication, everything from logos on T-shirts to billboards, industrial design and the movies."

So before making the claim “it’s too Photoshopped”, think about all the professionals involved in one single shot.