Not Just Pretty | Building An Effective Small Business Brand

Q&A: Making a Word document look like an eBook

QUESTION:

I've written an eBook, and now I want to make it look professional. But, I want to use Word as my "layout program". Help?

ANSWER:

Word is really not designed to act as a layout program, but there are a few things that you can do to dress up your text and to make your product look more professional:

• Start by designing a graphical cover in Illustrator, Photoshop, or some other graphics program.
  For design ideas, take some books off your bookshelves to see what the cover might look like. Choose simpler, blockier covers to model - these will be easier to use as a guide than a more complicated, layered cover would be.
  
  To easily add graphics, try stock photos. Search on istockphoto.com for an affordable stock photo. Be sure to buy a high-resolution version (even though an eBook is a digital product, you'll want to make the cover high resolution so that it will look as good as possible. You may also find that you need a high resolution version of the photo for later promotions, so having the high resolution version around (and spending a couple of extra dollars in the beginning) won't hurt matters.
  
  If you don't have Illustrator or Photoshop, then you can design a simple cover in Word. Use the "Drawing Tools" menu (look in the Help file for the location of yours - it differs in different versions of Word). Get a custom look by selecting custom colors, and not using Word's built-in color palette. 

• Then, design a matching page header and/or footer for the subsequent pages. These can be as simple as a stripe across the top and bottom (match the color of the stripe to the colors on the cover), the title of the book, your business's URL, and of course, a page number. Insert these as text and images in the header and footer of the page.

• If you purchase a non-system-standard font (in other words, something that your computer doesn't come with) and use that for your text, then you can get some pretty professional-looking results pretty easily. Fonts are inexpensive and can really dress up your product. You can browse for fonts at myfonts.com. Keep your choices simple, and consider legibility. Stick to standard text fonts - not decorative fonts. When in doubt, use really common fonts like Myriad Pro, Gill Sans, Warnock, Garamond, or Helvetica. And, by all means, please don't use Comic Sans.

• Combine a serif font (the fonts with little "feet" on the ends of the letters) for your headlines with a sans-serif font (the fonts without little "feet") for the body text. Or, vice-versa. Combine fonts where the letter "O" has similar characteristics - if the "O" is round, combine that font with another font where the "O" is round. Or, if the "O" is tall and narrow, try matching to a tall and narrow font.

• Use the "Format Paragraph" options and add 6 points of space before or after your paragraphs instead of hitting "enter" twice. It will produce a shorter space between the paragraphs, which looks more sophisticated.

Q&A: Can I have two websites?

QUESTION:

I have a new business name, and a shiny new website to go along with that. But, my old website is performing just fine on the search engines, and even brought in a new client the other day. My old website is also particularily well-suited for bringing in local business. 

Do I have to take the old site down? Should I apply the new design to it? What do I do?

ANSWER:

There's no reason that a small business can't have two websites - aside from the work involved in creating two separate sites. If you're promoting two different products or services, it may even make more sense to have two separate sites.

In this example, you're promoting your services nationally in your new site, but locally in your old site. I think if the old site was cleaned up a bit to make it clear that it's really targeting local prospects, add some information about the local "scene" to it, and make sure that the distinction between the two sites is really clear. 

You should add some links back and forth between the two sites to reinforce that they "go together". If you just add a few, it shouldn't hurt your ranking in any way. 

And, updating the old site with the new business name and design would make sense, just for clarity. You don't want to answer the phone with the new business name, while someone's looking at the old site, and confuse them. I'd also recommend that the site be redesigned to match the new logo/look, but not to match the new site exactly. The local site might look a bit simpler than the national site, for example. That way, it will be clear that they are two separate sites, and if a browser comes across them both they won't get that slimy feel of visiting two sites for the same thing.

Q&A: Banner ads: how long to switch frames for?

QUESTION:

Should my banner ad continuously switch frames, or switch back and forth a few times and then stop?

ANSWER:

That depends on how much control you have over your ad's placement.

If you're sure it will always be at the top of a web page, then your ad can stop after a few rotations. Especially if your ad has a lot of action going on, stopping it can help make the page it appears on seem more tame and easier on the eyes. Just make sure to stop it on the most informational frame. And, make sure it rotates enough - and slowly enough - so that people on slower internet connections can get all of the information.

But, if it might be towards the bottom of a page, it should switch continuously so that if a visitor is reading the text on the page, or if they get distracted, and don't scroll down for a bit, then they'll still get the full impact of the ad.

If you're not sure how the ad will be used, then either let it rotate continuously or create multiple versions for people to choose from when they place the ad on their site. If you can, make the ecommendation about which version they should use.

Q&A: Buying an email list to send a newsletter or promotion to

QUESTION:

I'm buying a list of email addresses to send an email promotion for my upcoming book to. Any tips?

ANSWER:

I don't do a lot of list-buying, as a rule. But, here's what I know about it:

1. You want to make sure that you're buying a list that's recent, up-to-date and that the email addresses on it aren't junk. I've heard that some list buying companies will allow you to test a sample of the list before buying, or they'll guarantee a low percentage of address bounces.

2. Make sure that the people on the list know that their addresses are being sold - to avoid getting yourself in spamming trouble down the line.

3. It can be more effective to send a few emails with information that people can use (some tips from your book, for example) instead of just sending an ad for the book and asking people to buy. This helps you demonstrate value.

4. Make sure the email you write won't trip too many spam filters - you want to avoid using words like free, money, and other junk-email type words.

5. Make sure that the email list comes in an easy-to-import format - no one wants to re-type all those addresses.

Question from my last newsletter

Q: I am just now doing web design research to do the bigger website and agree, something up now is better than nothing. You mentioned to find a template that is not too terrible - just to launch. Can you recommend any template web service that would be would be decent for the short run?

A: I don't have any particular template services in mind - but I'd recommend to go with something that's more plain and simple overall. Many web hosting companies offer simple templates with your domain name hosting, or there are a lot of companies who offer templates out there - just don't get anything too busy or complicated. You'll do less damage to your brand with a simpler look and feel for a template site.

Also, try to get a template that allows you to add your logo to it - instead of having all the graphics locked down.

Q: Secondly, can I keep the same domain name i.e. LauraSilva.com from the temporary web site to the permanent web site?

A: Not only can you keep the same domain name, but you should. Otherwise, you won't get the same results after the waiting period - you'd have to start over again if you used a different domain name for the "real" website.

Q: Thank you, and I will be looking to see your portfolio on your web design service too.

A: Sure, my portfolio's available here: http://www.elf-design.com/portfolio-Web-Design.html

Q&A: Product Photography

QUESTION:
I am speaking with several photographers about setting up product shots for the website, and had a quick question for you. Do you have a sense of how you would expect the product shots to be framed for the website? I will likely go with a white background but am unsure what to tell photographers in terms of whether they should expect to be shooting the product shots as squares, rectangles, etc.

ANSWER:

It is hard to say this early in the process (I'm just starting the logo for this particular website), but here are some general thoughts:

You want your photos to communicate your brand message, just like everything else in your design. But, since this particular brand has several messages (as many brands tend to!), there are a few ways you could go.

Rectangles usually look more sophisticated, which goes with the "keepsake/ luxury" part of your brand. Squares tend to look more hip and modern. So, it depends which way you want to go - either one could work.

In other associations:
Rectangular framing: Fine art, family photos, picture frames, albums, books, magazines
Square: Youth, perfection, balance, needs to be cropped, so that means that additional work was done

So, the framing of the photo is only a small part of the communication. The framing can communicate different things based on what the content of the photo also says.

You could ask the photographer what they think will look best, too - part of that will depend on the product/model styling and posing. Be sure to pick a photographer with experience posing models and styling products to communicate the overall brand message. The easy way to tell if that's the case up-front is to look at their portfolio; they shouldn't have a portfolio where all the photos look exactly the same. Then, ask them about the brand or campaign message that they were trying to reinforce through the photos - and how they accomplished that.

And, I do recommend white backgrounds - as long as they're not too white. Having a little shadow or texture in the background will keep it from looking sterile. Since "cleanness" in that sense isn't a part of your brand, then having some shading is what I would recommend. It will warm up the photo and make the product/model look like they're not floating in space.

Differentiation Q&A: I can't use "better" as a differentiator, so now what?

QUESTION:
I am a photographer, and I have about 25 competitors written down (the __________ (eliminated for privacy) area is a large place) and have no idea how to figure out what makes me different from them. I’d like to think my work is of better quality, but you can’t use “better” as a differentiator. LOL

ANSWER:
It sounds like you just need to answer some more specific questions about your differentiation:
The question I'd ask to that is, with your target market in mind, how do you personally define "better". What makes your pictures better than your competitors'?

Sometimes, being more specific about what makes you better is all you need. When you say better, you have a bunch of reasons in mind. What reasons would make your offering more compelling for the people you want to work with?

What do they want you to be better at? What do they want out of your service at all?

Those might help you get closer to something that sounds more interesting, compelling and real to your audience than you just saying "I'm better", and them saying "Oh, sure!"

Q&A: Why are my footers greyed out in Word?

QUESTION:
I'm creating a word document with a watermark in the background. I've added 3 logos to the bottom as footers....but they're washed out and look like they're hiding behind a film. It's doens't seem to be related to the watermark - because it doesn't change when I delete the water mark..

Any ideas how I can get the footer logos to be clear?

ANSWER:

The grey isn't related to the watermark at all.

That's the way that Word displays the footers (and this happens with headers, too) - it grays them out. I think that Microsoft thinks that it looks less distracting and lets the user concentrate on the content of the document they're creating.

The way to deal with it depends on how you're delivering the document.

If you're printing or PDFing the document before delivery, the logos will all look fine. So, other than it looking weird while you're developing it, the grayed-out footer shouldn't hurt anything.

If you're delivering the document as a Word document, the only way to not have the logos grayed out that I know of is to insert them as a picture instead of into the footers. The problem with that is that you'll have to deal with getting them aligned properly at the end of the project, so if that's the case, I'd recommend doing that step last.

Q&A: How can I make a letterhead in my email?

QUESTION:

I just got this gorgeous email from my competitor, with their logo, address and beautiful graphics, all at the top of the page just like a letterhead. I want one! How can I make one of these for my own company?

ANSWER:

Well, this isn't an easy question to answer.

First of all, consider if the people you're sending emails to really want to see a big graphic at the top of every email. If your clients and vendors are "get down to business" types, then having a graphic at the top of each email could annoy them instead of leaving the positive impression that you're hoping for.

If you think your target audience would respond positively to a letterhead, then you have a couple of options:

• If you're using Microsoft Outlook as your email program, there are several services who offer letterhead creation. I'm guessing they'll probably be happy to tell you how to make the letterhead work in your email as well. I haven't had direct experience with these companies, but if you work with them, I'd love to hear how it goes!
  
  • http://www.emailletterhead.com/
    
  • http://www.stationerycentral.com/pages-letterhead/Index-Frame.asp/
    
  
  
• If you're not using Outlook, or if you don't want to always send out your emails on letterhead, then look into using an HTML newsletter service to send out branded emails. You can build a template that's full of graphics, just like a web page—the graphics aren't just limited to the top of the page.
  

Q&A: Naming my business

QUESTION:
I am having a terrible time coming up with a name for my design firm. I have a couple marketing friends that want me to call my firm by my name. However, when I hire people I want the designer/s to feel like it is also a reflection of them also.

Do you have any suggestions on how to go about it?

ANSWER:
I'm not really a naming expert; I just took my initials and named my business that. It sort of helps that I have initials that make a word, so it's more memorable.

Then again, I don't hire people—a big part of my business is that it's just me—I don't bring in freelancers or junior designers so that all of my clients will get a senior designer working on their projects from start to finish.

You can name your business pretty much anything you like. A lot of design firms are named by the principal's name, even if there's more than one person working there. All of the design firms that I worked at before starting my own company were named after the owner.

Or, you can name the firm according to the benefits you provide, like Strategic Marketing Design.

You could also name your business something random and memorable, or just something that makes you happy.

In any case, make sure that your name is unique! You want to be memorable and to make sure that no one else is doing business with that name.