Ten Ways to Save
Ten Ways to Save How do you keep project standards high when the budget isn’t? Communicators see their resources rise and fall, while the demand to inform, inspire and engage their audience remains...
View ArticleShortcut Junkie
I write a lot of code. When I’m jamming on the keyboard, having to reach for the mouse is like stepping away from the piano to play a note on the tuba. That’s why I love Quicksilver, a free Mac...
View ArticleDo It Again!
Back in the tech boom of the 90s, I taught computer classes—lots of them—including the program everyone loves to hate, Microsoft Word. I learned a lot of tips & tricks along the way. Allow me to...
View ArticleRFP FAQ
How to Shop for an Ad Agency, Marketing Firm or Web Developer A man decided he wanted a wood cabinet built. So he looked up ten cabinet makers and announced he would hire whoever offered him the best...
View ArticleOnline Spring Cleaning
Flowers are blooming. Allergies are flaring. Summer’s nearly here. It’s time to give that website of yours a little spring cleaning. Say what? Yep, websites need cleaning too. When’s the last time you...
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Brushing Up
There was a time when writers had a choice of word processing programs: Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect. I think you know who won that battle. Now we all use Word. But like the human brain or...
View ArticleGoogle, You Don’t Need to Put on the Black Hat
In case you haven’t already heard, the marketers of Chrome (the Web browser developed by Google) broke Google’s own quality standards by paying consumer review bloggers for praise and links, which in...
View ArticleSpanked by the Invisible Hand
Ouch! Did you feel that, creative professionals? That’s the sting of Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand lashing your backside with a handful of crowdsourced design. And if you think it’ll be over sooner by...
View ArticleSimple and Direct
Anyone who’s waited tables knows it forever changes how you experience service as a customer. You become a better tipper—but also a tougher judge of performance. Working in marketing, as it turns out,...
View ArticleD-I-WhY? : The hidden cost of building your own WordPress site
Ah, the pre-Internet days. It was a simpler time. Back then, we didn’t need to think about (or spend a dime on) websites. Neither did the businesses we serve. But it didn’t take long for websites to go...
View ArticleSEO FAQ
SEO (or “Search Engine Optimization” for the uninitiated or imprisoned) is perhaps the most mythologized and misunderstood abbreviation in the Internet alphabet soup. Achieving top rankings in search...
View ArticleThe Brandathon Voteathon
You’ve heard the tagline, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Maybe you’ve heard the slogan “Keep Austin Weird.” Now it’s our turn. Creative powers throughout Sacramento have been working behind...
View ArticleHow to Design an Effective Ad
Bombarded by the daily ad onslaught, you and your fellow urbanites have trained themselves to ignore most advertisements. But suppose now it’s your job to captivate this jaded audience and persuade...
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The Power of Infographics
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. However, an infographic—a visualization designed to present quantitative information—can be just as revealing. Given the explosion of raw data available on...
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Five Ways You’re Doing it Wrong (Copy Edition)
“On Language” columnist William Safire wrote many wonderful writing tips. My favorite: “Avoid clichés like the plague.” The marketing world has its own set of clichés and foibles. Here are tips for...
View ArticleI’m Not a Noun, I’m a Verb.
This story, How Smart Language Helped End Seattle’s Paralyzing Bikelash, made me so happy I had to gab about it. Around 2010 in Seattle, people were getting a bit shouty about adding new bike lanes....
View ArticleFive Reasons You Need Responsive Web Design Now
In the old days, the desktop computer was king. We were tied to our mouses, keyboards and monitors. Times have changed. Now, over half of all Internet traffic goes to mobile devices, and that trend is...
View ArticleUnfinished Symphony: Your Website isn’t Done When You Think it Is
Building a website is always more work that you think it’ll be, and it takes a symphony of skills to bring it all together. You’ve directed all the key players as they have collected all the content,...
View ArticleHow to Launch a Google AdWords Campaign
Advertising is all about converting attention into sales, and every day millions of eyes are cast toward Google, the Internet’s leading search engine. Google’s program for search engine marketing (or...
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Expression Systems Logo Redesign: Perspectives from a Wallrich Creative
Expression Systems, a biotechnology company in Davis, California, came to us with a need. They wanted to assume their role as a major league player in their industry, which is dominated by huge...
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