High Rock Studios

High Rock Launches Social Media Toolkit

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:45:00 +0000

Now, more than ever, organizations are required to seek modern avenues of marketing to generate traffic to their website and top of mind awareness of their brand. With that goal in mind, we sought out to help explain some the latest tools such as Facebook and Twitter and what they mean for your organization.

“In the last six months, our clients have heard that social media was important, but they didn’t understand its value,” said Dave Schleigh, founder and creative director of High Rock Studios.

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What Is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is a form of Internet marketing used to generate publicity or exposure via an online community.

Social media sites allow users to become part of an online network, in which they can blog, share photos and ideas, and chat with friends or colleagues. Many marketers recognize the advantage of these online communities, and now use them to target potential (and existing) customers.

Facebook
Businesses can create a fan page, which features a "Wall" for the page administrator and "fans" to post comments, photos, events and videos; an "Info" tab, which includes fields for business location and general information; a "Discussions" tab which allows the page administrator and fans to hold discussions on specific topics; and a "Reviews" tab, which allows fans to post reviews.

Twitter
Twitter is similar to a blog, with shorter posts. Businesses can create a page and invite other Twitter users to "follow" them. Twitter pages are less complex than Facebook fan pages, only allowing the page administrator and followers to post short updates and comments.

Source: StartLogic Tech Talk – July 2009

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Can social media really benefit a small business? Here at High Rock Studios, we decided to do some testing of our own to find out first hand. We launched a Twitter page (http://twitter.com/highrockstudios) and a Facebook page (http://highrockstudios.com/facebook), and began posting announcements. In May, we announced on our website, blog, Facebook and Twitter pages that we would send a free t-shirt to anyone who e-mailed us back. Within 48 hours of the posting, we distributed 200 shirts to people throughout the United States and abroad, including Indonesia, Denmark and New Zealand. Now do we expect to build a book of business in Indonesia because one person is wearing a High Rock t-shirt on the streets of Jakarta? No, but it’s a cool little fact that fits into the “buzz” category.

So can social media really benefit a small business? The answer is an astounding “YES”. In fact, we launched the Social Media Toolkit to help our clients lay a foundation of modern marketing tools and experience the same results we experienced. The Social Media Toolkit offers the basics of getting started, including setup, training and most importantly, how the tools can be used to promote your organization.

“High Rock had done a great job with the Website for Cleaner Greener Baltimore and we asked them to set up a Twitter page,” said Helen Szablya, a consultant for Cleaner Greener Baltimore, noting that the page http://twitter.com/cleangreenbalt will be used to discuss the City’s new 1 + 1 recycling program.

Taking it one step further, it’s our goal at High Rock to also give clients insight into how to maximize the social media tools for their specific markets to effectively target current audiences and reach new ones.

The Toolkit is an easy-to-understand and practical approach to what can be a confusing marketing technique. It was our goal to distill the core benefits of social media, customize a plan for each client and quickly implement on the client’s Website.

A key element of our toolkit is the customization aspect. Understanding how social media tools are used, specific to their organization is critical. We provide guidance on such items as what types of information should they tweet about and how to use the Facebook page. We even help with uploading company videos to YouTube to gain more exposure.

For organizations utilizing our custom-built CMC solutions, the Social Media Toolkit can also allow for automatic publishing of news and information to the Twitter and Facebook pages through an RSS feed.

“The Social Media Toolkit allows clients to easily update their social media outlets while updating their Website news. We are streamlining the process so the client only has to post the information to one source,” said Schleigh. “It saves time, lets the client provide up-to-date communications, and expands their access to a greater audience base.”

After creating a Website with an RSS feed for the University of Maryland BioPark, we
implemented the Social Media Toolkit to create a Twitter page (www.twitter.com/umbiopark) , a
Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/pages/Baltimore-MD/UMBIOPark/99590088541) and a
LinkedIn group (www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2110846). High Rock also provided the UM BioPark access to other sites through ShareThis, and created an e-mail marketing tool.

“We were looking for other ways to get the word out,” said Julie G. Evans, MA, marketing manager for the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Office of Research & Development. “High Rock created a great graphic banner and gave us the forum to find more avenues for people to find us.”

If you are interested in hearing more about High Rock’s Social Media Toolkit, call us at 301.791.1221 or contact your Account Rep. Pricing will vary based on client needs.

Hey Dave!... Saturday, Sept. 19th is Official Talk Like a Pirate Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:34:00 +0000

It’s true, there really are other people that aspire to be a pirate like High Rock’s own, Dave Schleigh - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Talk_Like_a_Pirate_Day. ARRRRRR. This Saturday is a big day for wanna be pirates.

Keagan (my youngest son) was even inspired by Dave this summer.

The High Rock Story

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:15:00 +0000

We've recently been working on an updated press kit and portfolio for some big announcements we'll be making soon. As we were interviewed by our PR firm on how High Rock came to be, it was interesting to look back... We've bootstrapped this thing called "High Rock", took crazy risks, waited to hire only the best we could find and in the end, dare we say it, "advanced" our business. It's our mission to stay grounded in our efforts and continue to help our clients "advance" as well.

THE HIGH ROCK STORY

High Rock Studios has garnered a diverse list of local, regional and national clients in less than five full years in business. Headquartered in Hagerstown, Maryland with a Greater Baltimore office in Ellicott City, High Rock provides a powerful synthesis of graphic design, web development, video production and strategic marketing services to transform client goals into effective, market-sensible solutions for success.

The firm began in 2005 when Rich Daughtridge joined forces with fellow designer, entrepreneur and Hagerstown native, Dave Schleigh to launch High Rock Interactive. For the office that Rich would run, they bought The Clock Tower Building in the heart of downtown Hagerstown and began operating from two of the building’s four floors. For the office that Dave would run, they rented space in The Can Company along Baltimore’s waterfront.

Within two years, High Rock was winning ADDY awards – (including a District Award), serving clients in a variety of industries, and developing a particular niche among real estate and economic development organizations.

Following the decision to add video production to its scope of services, the company opened an office in Frederick, expanded to eight employees, and began operating as a full-service firm with a new name: High Rock Studios.

To accommodate growth, High Rock bought a 2,200-square-foot historic Ellicott City farmhouse – one of Maryland’s oldest structures dating back to 1730 – and refurbished it into the firm’s present- day Greater Baltimore location.

High Rock expanded to 15 people in 2008 with the acquisition of web development and graphic design firm, Ranablue, LLC. With continued growth came continued success. High Rock racked up more industry acclaim, including Best of Show honors at the Greater Frederick Advertising Federation's ADDY awards.

To ensure quality control, the High Rock team set out to find an effective time tracking and project management system. After scouring the market they realized the ideal system didn’t exist, so they decided to create one. The result was called LeftBrain and worked so well that High Rock began the process of marketing it for use by small businesses worldwide.

Since its founding, High Rock has given back to the community by providing pro bono work for several non-profit organizations. Taking it one step further, the firm established the LeftBrain Foundation to support worthy causes. In its debut, the Foundation donated an iMac computer and Adobe Creative Suite software to the Boys and Girls Club of Washington County. High Rock also taught youths in the Boys & Girls Club how to build a website (using the donated iMac) for Children in Need, another local non-profit organization.

2009 is shaping up to be the firm’s biggest and best year ever. Already, The Baltimore Business Journal has ranked High Rock Studios among the Top 25 Web Development Firms in Baltimore and the Surrounding Area.

As technology and communications strategies evolved to include e-mail marketing, search engine optimization, RSS feeds, blogs, Web 2.0 strategies and social media, so did High Rock’s service offerings.

High Rock recently developed the Social Media Toolkit: an easy-to-understand and practical approach to using social media applications. In addition to creating a client’s Twitter account and Facebook fan page – and building templates for additional applications, High Rock advises on how to use the tools effectively for industry-specific marketing needs.

By summer 2009, High Rock had grown to a staff of 20 talented, experienced and innovative professionals. To thank the employees for their hard work and dedication, High Rock’s principals announced they would take the entire staff – and their families – to Walt Disney World in January.

No doubt, 2010 will start off with a bang for High Rock Studios.

Crazy Few Weeks at High Rock

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 01:31:00 +0000

Things have been crazy lately at High Rock with all the projects currently in-progress, but it's fun stuff. We will be launching a number of international, national and local websites, as well as other video and print projects.

For a preview of new portfolio posts, we launched www.immersionactive.com yesterday and www.welocalize.com today. Both very cool websites. Make sure and check out the video on Immersion Active's home page.

Behind the scenes, our programmers are also creating some amazing web applications and we have two iPhone applications in the works.

There is probably more to say, but exhaustion has arrived, and I'm ready to crash.

NOW HIRING... really smart people

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:39:00 +0000

In our latest magazine ads, we decided to mix it up a bit. We've had a good run at our ad campaign featuring High Rock staff members, but this time around we thought we'd take a break and try solving for our biggest issue lately - recruiting new team members.

The ad headline is a bit shocking in today's economy, but reality for us. The rest of the copy is a good read:

High Rock Studios is seeking
.NET/C# Web Programmers,
Graphic Designers,
Copywriters & More

High Rock Studios, a leading web development
and creative services firm with offices in
Hagerstown and Ellicott City, is seeking
.NET/C# Web Programmers, Graphic
Designers, Copywriters and more. Apply online.
Compensation package includes a competitive
salary, bonus opportunities, 100% individual
healthcare benefits, a great working environment,
professional growth and, most importantly, the
2010 company Disney trip. Rock on!

Does design play an important role in the success of a website?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:31:00 +0000

I know you’re on the edge of your seat waiting for the answer, so I’ll just come out and say it: Design is the #1 most important factor in the success of a website. Period. Pretty predictable coming from a ‘web design’ company, I know. But it’s true. By nature, humans are visual creatures—always scanning the surrounding environment and making split-second decisions based on appearances. Websites fall under the same scrutiny, so it’s advantageous to give your website that immediate ‘wow-factor,’ which distinguishes you from your competitors. Design also brings order to chaos by taking often-complex information and assembles it into a logical, easy-to-comprehend order. Even the most well written copy, if not organized properly, is useless. When customers land on your website, you want them to see what you want them to see. And, to be honest, they want the same thing as well. It’s all about instant gratification!

We’ve reached a period in this technological age where most Internet users have become savvy (a.k.a. jaded) experts. They expect more from websites—particularly those they entrust with their valuable, ever-diminishing time or hard-earned money. Your website has to meet high expectations by serving up valuable information clearly and concisely, while avoiding user frustration through poor content or site organization.

Before being contacted by potential customers, it’s likely they’ve already visited your website.This is why I always tell clients to think of their website as a virtual storefront. It’s the first line of contact with a potential customer. As a result, your website has to instill trust, convey quality, and convince the potential customer that you offer a better product or service than your competitor. If you don’t do this, they’ll click the browser’s back button and be gone in seconds.

If you decide to take your website to the next level, look for a company that has a deep portfolio. And even though design is critical, you should also find a company that has an experienced copywriter, is knowledgeable with CMC (CMS) so you can update your site frequently, and can assist you with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to drive potential customers your way via search engines. And if you hire your 13-year old cousin’s uncle’s boss’s son I’ll hunt you down myself.

Creativity as an Excuse

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:20:00 +0000

There is a notion in some marketing and design firms that "creativity" is stifled by business processes like tracking time or a disciplined approach to project management. Here at High Rock Studios, especially in current economic times, I believe we serve our clients best by tracking our time in small increments and being transparent by documenting all time in our invoices. In my opinion, value is measured by having a great team who offer a quality service in a timely fashion and at a fair hourly rate.

Dave Schleigh, Jeremy Bohner and I recently returned from the 2009 HOW Design Conference in Austin, Texas. In a session on the topic of project management with 300 people in attendance, the speaker made it a point to mention LeftBrain as a potential solution along with names such as BaseCamp and other project management software. As the developers of LeftBrain, www.leftbraintechnologies.com, it was exciting to hear feedback from attendees who see the need for an easy-to-use time tracking system/project management system that connects seamlessly with their accounting software.

We were inspired by attending such a great event, but on Monday morning (today) we realize our clients demand value in the work we produce, so we're back at it in full force. Our team is highly creative, committed to excellence and accountable to the business processes we've established... it's how we succeed and how we help our clients succeed.

Meeting of the Minds

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Wilkinson) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:58:00 +0000

When it comes to discussions between contractor and client (or even among people within the same company), the conversation typically follows the same trajectory, which goes like this:

Person A: The weather next Tuesday will be cloudy with a chance of rain.
Person B: So, the way I see it, on Tuesday, next week, it might rain...but might not.
Person C: Sure, I understand...but consider this: next week, on the second workday, there will be a few clouds, and only a little sunshine.
Person A: Right. Cloudy with a chance of rain.
Person B: So you're saying that there would only be a chance of rain?
Person C: I'm saying there will be a few clouds.
Person A: And maybe some rain.
Person B: And maybe some sun, right?
Person C: Right.
Person A: And some clouds.
Person B: Okay—clouds, sun, and rain...all possibilities. On Tuesday.
Persons A and C: Right.

[Substitute any other topic for the weather.]

Notice anything? From the beginning of the conversation, everyone was already on the same page...yet there was still a fair amount of discourse that masquerades as misunderstanding.

The reality is that everyone has a different mental map of the same place. Often, when people gather to seek consensus on an approach to something, much of the dialogue is spent just reconciling these mental maps. And the point is...it's okay!

But sometimes, frustration sets in—people get exasperated when others don't have the identical mental map. Outside the conference room, a colleague will gripe "This guy just doesn't get it." But chances are he does get it...just not the same way you get it. This is when it's important to say to yourself, "Reconciling mental maps is good. It's a normal part of the process, and sometimes it takes time."

It's possible to accelerate this reconciliation, and that's where good communication skills matter. The more clearly you speak, the faster others line up their mental map with yours. Sure, sometimes people simply have entirely different opinions. But the amount of time it takes to express these different opinions is minimal compared to the time it takes to come together. [Cue Beatles song.]

I referred earlier to discourse masquerading as misunderstanding. What I meant was, it's not usually misunderstanding. It's just that the different mental maps haven't come together. So it might feel like misunderstanding...but it's not. (So take heart!)

Misunderstanding is when one person says "dog" and the other person thinks they heard "cat." That's misunderstanding. That's when you say "No, you don't understand. One is canine, one is feline—two totally different species." But again, this rarely happens.

So be aware of the differences. Remember that a significant (but unspoken) purpose of meetings isn't to "get through business" (even though that's what everyone thinks)...but just to reconcile mental maps...even if there is no misunderstanding and everyone is on the same page.

And if you can get some real business done, great!

Fundamentals of Email Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:20:00 +0000

With all the buzz around blogging, RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other Web 2.0 marketing strategies, some of the other, more traditional digital tools, like email marketing, can be overlooked. Email marketing is like the cool grandfather of digital marketing, but many organizations overlook the power of permission-based email as a part of their marketing mix or feel intimidated by the technology to even get started.

Email marketing is fast, affordable and easy-to-use, but the degree of effectiveness is a result of proper execution and integration of industry best practices. Below we will take a look at the fundamentals of email marketing. For those of you who already utilize email marketing, some of this will be a good refresher, and for those of you who haven’t dipped your toe in the Web 2.0 world yet, we hope to make a case for how this tool can benefit your organization.

1. Design

The look and feel of your emails should be consistent with your website and other marketing collateral. Take the extra time to create a professional, clean HTML wrap for your emails. Most email marketing tools allow you to save a template and reuse each time you send an email. While design is important, it is also important to keep it simple with a one or two column layout. Typically, a simple, but colorful banner graphic that includes your logo will suffice. Finally, don’t forget about the plain text version each time you send an email. These emails will be delivered to recipients who only accept plain text versions of email and not HTML. It’s important that both the HTML version and the plain text version be clean, neat and professional.

2. Consistent Delivery

Being consistent with the delivery of an email newsletter is critical to the success of your email marketing. It’s important to send emails often enough that it can be expected, but not so often it becomes a constant inbox-filler with little value. We recommend picking an interval such as weekly, monthly or quarterly. The interval depends on what type of content you’re sending. If you own a restaurant with weekly specials and live music, then weekly is probably best, but if you’re a professional firm looking to simply stay in touch, a quarterly interval is probably plenty. Don’t overpromise on your delivery by sending a few consistent emails and then not keeping up with the interval. When emails are wanted and expected, they have a much higher response rate.

3. Useful Information

Email communication is a big part of our world and people spend hours a day managing their inbox. As a result, the email you are sending should be useful information, not simply a sales pitch. People on your email list have given you permission to send them email, view this as a privilege, because with a click of a button they can remove themselves in an instant. Think about your target audience and what information they may want. Serve your recipients with valuable, useful information.

4. Concise

Much like the copy on your website, keep your information short and to the point. The goal of an email newsletter is to pull the person back to your website for more information or call with an inquiry if they’re interested. When checking email, people are simply browsing. They want their information in bite-size pieces. In seconds, they will decide to “read more” or simply delete.

5. Measurement

Any good email marketing tool will you give you some level of measurement or analytics regarding each message you send. The percentage of emails delivered, bounced, not opened, etc. will give you insights into how well you did on the points above. Many tools even allow you to see exactly who opened your email. For an advanced level of measurement, you can tag each link in an email with code to measure which content was selected to drive them to a destination. If you spend some time analyzing the statistics of each mailing, you can gain insights into what your readers really want.

6. List Building

The first step in any email marketing initiative is to import a list of existing customers and prospects. Most software like Outlook, Quickbooks, etc. will allow you to export a mailing list. This list can then be imported into an email marketing tool, allowing you to quickly setup a base of hundreds of recipients to begin your mailings.

The second step is to add a subscription form on your website allowing people to subscribe themselves automatically. This will help your list grow organically. And finally, be creative and work hard at growing your email list offline as well. We had a restaurant ask for emails in the check holder and then would manually enter the emails into their email marketing tool. In a year, they collected over 400 email addresses. This asset became a great tool for communicating weekly specials and live bands.

Finally, stay away from purchasing email lists and adding all the emails from business cards you gathered in the fish bowl at the last trade show. Email marketing is permission-based, so emailing someone outside your organization who didn’t request to be on your list is considered spamming.

7. Legal Guidelines

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 established the first standards on sending commercial email and protects consumers from unwanted email or spam. There are a number of details in the law, but the key points to be aware of include:

Email must be requested and not unsolicited.
Giving the user a “visible and operable unsubscribe mechanism”. Basically, if they don’t want your email anymore, they should be able to take themselves off your list.
Content of subject and from field should be relevant.

The Creation of Josh's Ad

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:17:00 +0000

The concept of the ad was developed by Rich, he wanted a "UFC type poster" and the head line of "Josh vs The Recession".

The first step was to get the two main people in place -- we took a series of photos of Josh on a solid background (helps with cutting out) and found a stock image of someone that represents the recession. Here is the selection from that photo shoot of Josh and the stock image for Recession :

Both images were cut out in Photoshop (to allow me to place them on any background I wanted). Next was to set the scene -- what to put in the background? Where to put the text? How to make them look like fighters preparing for battle?

I settled on a brick backdrop, and wanted a dirty, old looking brick wall -- something you might find in an alley or downtown Detroit. I came across this one, but it just wasn't rough enough so I added a metal overlay :

With the background set and the characters cut out, the next step was to turn Josh and Recession into UFC fighters. Here is a series of images that I used to achieve that illustration:

Now for the final touches -- I flipped the image of Recession to hide the cell phone, added smoke, cracked a lens, bloodied Josh's knuckles, placed in the text, and color corrected the over all scene to appear as if it was a single photo.

When all the puzzle pieces were in place I saved the file and placed it in the ad frame.
Drum roll please ..... Here is the final full page ad.

To download the PDF click here.

150 T-Shirts in 24 hours

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:59:00 +0000

In the past 24 hours, we've officially had over 150 t-shirt requests! Jo Ann is freaking out about getting all these shirts out the door, but as always, she's smiling. We have even had requests from Indonesia and Denmark.

If you haven't requested your FREE T-Shirt yet, email freetshirt@highrockstudios.com with your name, address and size (L and XL). Oh, and don't tell anyone, but we ordered more than 200 t-shirts just in case!

So i wonder if marketing via a Website, Email Blast, Facebook and Twitter really works!?! I would say so.

Typos Make Yuo Look Bad!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Wilkinson) — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:42:00 +0000

In these days fo instnet communication, we often see wrriten communications by businesses that are rife with typos. Yes, we're all busy. And yes, the reader will presubamly get the message even if words are mispelt.

But think about how this reflect on your business. Its natural for anyone who sees your typo-riddled text to infer that you just don't pay attnetion to detail. And if you don't sweat the details in your writing, it's natural to asume you won't be detail-orientned in the work you do for clients.

Bein gin a hurry is no excuse for sloppy copy. And don't rely on spellcheckers either, because they tend to "drink you mean think when you meant to type sink!" You or someone on your staf needs to know how to spell and proof a document.

Some think it's cute or hip to write in "SMS-ese," but it's really just plain lazzy. Don't do it!

(Sorry about the typos...I was in a rush to get this publishd...)

Free High Rock T-Shirts

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:06:00 +0000

To kick-off summer, we're giving away 200 High Rock T-Shirts to anyone who requests one. Limit 1 per person. While supplies last. Email freetshirt@highrockstudios.com with your name, address and size (L or XL).

Four Years Ago Today

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:34:00 +0000

This past weekend I was working in the office and recalled that this was approximately the four year anniversary of High Rock Studios. I dug around and found a picture of my son and I scraping wallpaper and painting one of the offices back in March of 2005. See below.

What you can't see in the picture is my wife and mother-in-law scraping wall paper in the main lobby area. Our 3-month old daughter was also swinging in the baby swing fast asleep.

Crazy times, but it was a good reflection on how High Rock Studios began and a good frame of reference on what matters most.

Critical Marketing Strategies in a Soft Economy, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:20:00 +0000

In our last newsletter we offered some key strategies for marketing in a soft economy. Now we’re in a full-blown recession, so it’s even more critical to focus on marketing to sustain your business for the long term. In this article we’ll expand on these strategies and mention a few more.

Don’t Back Off On Marketing
The most important concept to remember is counter-intuitive, but true: a recession is a great time for you to gain market share. In a strong economy, the level of marketing “noise” coming from everyone is deafening, and it can be difficult for you to get noticed. But in a recession, everyone quiets down—many businesses scale back their marketing and leave an opening for you. Take advantage of it. If you stay focused on marketing now, you’ll emerge from the recession stronger than your competitors.

Look for Opportunity in Adversity
Another result of the recession is that customer habits have changed. People are spending less, but they still have needs. Value and responsive customer service are more important than ever, and companies who deliver on these key elements will reap the benefits. Reevaluate your product or service and look for ways to increase their value. Focus on customer service and pay attention to the little things.

Use a Variety of Marketing Channels
Customers get their information from a greater variety of sources than ever before. It’s no longer effective to rely on traditional media like newspapers and radio. New media such as the Internet, social networking websites, blogs, and even text messaging are fast becoming preferred ways to get information. Special events are also becoming popular. You need to reach your customers wherever they are—and they are increasingly found in many different places.

Get Personal
Digital technology and the web have made it far more cost-efficient to move your marketing efforts from broadcasting to narrowcasting—which means focusing your marketing efforts at individuals, not large audiences. Smart companies are using personalized marketing to appeal directly to individuals, and people increasingly expect this. Personalized email and web landing pages get more results, and the combination of database technology with digital printing make personalized print easier than ever.

Focus on Usability
A correlary to good customer service is good usability—make every aspect of your company crystal-clear and easy for customers to understand and use. It’s critical to stand in your customer’s shoes and look at yourself from the outside in. Is your website dead-simple to navigate? Can people easily find anything they need? What about your voicemail system? Is it easy to use? Or does it frustrate with endless layers of number prompts? How about your forms? Are the instructions clear? Is there enough space for people to write what you need? Make it easy!

Streamline Your Resources
Now is the time to do more with less. But don’t simply pile more tasks on fewer people. Be smart. Move as much online as possible—forms, instructions, directories, etc. are all more efficiently maintained and distributed through your website than with print and “snail mail.” Plan your marketing efforts so they’re easily reused with minor modifications to suit different audiences. Balance personalized service where necessary with more efficient seminars, clinics and other larger audience outreach efforts.

Getting Noticed

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Wilkinson) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Take a look at the ambulance below...

Nothing extraordinary. Just your basic ambulance. While driving to lunch in Hagerstown recently, I was almost startled to see this ambulance:

Which one are you more likely to notice from behind? Getting noticed is often just a matter of doing the unexpected. Think about it.

Say More With Less, Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Wilkinson) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Good writing effectively communicates a message. Great writing does it faster.

But great writing isn't easy. I've been a professional writer for years, and those opening sentences still took some work. Here's the evolution.

First, I wrote:
"If good writing is about effectively communicating a message, then great writing is about doing it with as few words as possible."

Bad. I saw all sorts of things wrong with it. First was the windy phrase, "doing it with as few words as possible." So I deleted "as few words as possible" and replaced them with "half as many words."

So now I had,
"If good writing is about effectively communicating a message, then great writing is about doing it with half as many words."

Nope, still bad. The sentence is still too long, and that final phrase is still windy. So I replaced "half as many words" with "fewer words."

This left me with,
"If good writing is about effectively communicating a message, then great writing is about doing it with fewer words."

A little better, but the whole thing felt heavy and cumbersome. I asked myself, what does "doing it with fewer words" mean? It means "faster."

So I whittled that final phrase until I had,
"If good writing is about effectively communicating a message, then great writing is about doing it faster."

But I still had two problems. First were the passive verbs, "communicating" and "doing." Avoid these like the plague. They're weak, and affect a sentence like sandbags on a balloon. Even worse, they usually require other pointless words that contribute to sentence bloat.

So I made those verbs active, like so:
"If good writing effectively communicates a message, then great writing does it faster."

Now I was getting somewhere! But it still lacked the power to make it memorable. The answer? Make it two sentences, and get rid of "if" and "then" in the process.

"Good writing effectively communicates a message. Great writing does it faster."

There. It was finally perfect. Short, powerful, and memorable. Compare this to the original sentence: "If good writing is about effectively communicating a message, then great writing is about doing it with as few words as possible." Quite a difference, isn't it?

All this effort may seem anal retentive. After all, it wasn't hard to understand the original sentence. But this relentless revision matters. It makes the difference between someone seeing your message without comprehending it...and actually remembering it. In reality, the revisions I made above happened in a couple of minutes. But that was just the opening sentence. Imagine the same rigorous edits applied to several paragraphs, and you see why great writing takes time.

Copy is often batted between clients and writers who obsess over a particular word choice (like "windy" versus "long-winded"). But word choice has nowhere near the impact of word deletion. Copy is always made more powerful by reduction. So if you find yourself haggling over a specific word, don't. Say more with less. Cut it down, then cut more. You'll be amazed by how bloated your sentences are.

Seminars and One-on-One Attention - The Best of Both Worlds

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:23:00 +0000

We're excited about the feedback we continue to receive from participants who attended the High Rock Marketing Summit back in January. Over 100 people attended the seminar and while our production or delivery wasn't perfect, it's good to hear consistently positive feedback. Our goal was to offer practical marketing tools in a soft economy. Thanks to all of those who completed the online survey!

The great thing about a seminar is that you can take a break from your normal routine and dream again. Seminars have a way of allowing you to look at your business or organization from another perspective and consider things you may have not have thought of before. I still thinks Scott Wilkinson's exercise of "Buy from me! Buy from me!" was brilliant. Nick, you did a good job with that too.

But for me, the best part of the seminar was getting to talk and meet one-on-one with clients and prospects after the seminar. We've had a chance to talk with many clients since then and there is a renewed sense of clarity regarding their organization and then the fun part... how to creatively tell the world through marketing and advertising.

Thanks again to the High Rock team for helping pull it all together and for all of you who attended. Feel free to drop me a line at rich@highrockstudios.com or call to chat - (301) 791-1221 X102.

New High Rock Website... Finally!?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Daughtridge) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 02:23:00 +0000

Since we began operations in March of 2005, we've been victim of being too busy with our client's projects to invest time into our own website. Well, it's official. The new website is live and with a fancy new blog to go along with it. We also now realize we're our own worst client. Our new website has taken over 6 months to complete! It's been painful, but we're happy with the results. A fresh look and unique layout. There is also more to come with our new corporate video just about ready. We're exhausted, but excited at the same time.

So hopefully you've had a chance to look around. We redesigned the layout of our portfolio to make it easier see our latest work at a glance on the home page and also more details one click away.

This year should be interesting. We end our video with the statement "Advance in the face of adversity". It's how we view our role... to partner with our clients when times are tough and ensure their success. Times are tough and smart marketing is critical. Our competition is no longer other professional firms, rather the economic landscape.

We have some cool projects on the horizon. Stay tuned.