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What do a hockey player, a man on stilts, a ballerina, and an elephant all have in common? They all grace the walls of DScribed.  The characters, together in black and white on a canvas of painted sheet rock, welcome you into the DScribed office. They were created from our very own imaginations.

Eye-grabbing, creative, and unique- isn’t that what you want your business to be? We’ll start with a graphic, an innovative logo, add a few words or short phrase to describe your business, and your company will be ready to get out there and be seen. After all, first impressions are everything. You want to look your best.

You want your company to have a recognizable symbol that pulls the customer in and creates a familiarity with your product or service. This is called having a coherent brand. Branding is the key to your company’s identity. In order to be recognizable you need a logo that becomes the standard for your company and can be found everywhere from your business card and letter head to your company vehicle. You have the ability to make a customer look at a sign or symbol and associate it with your business. This can all be done through having a brand. Take the power of branding and run with it. So what are you waiting for?

Come on in, sit down. Maybe if you’re lucky we will draw you on our wall.

By Nicole Pepper, Account Assistant

Check out this video for more information on branding:

I get this question at least once a week.  The truth is, most people who talk about blogs (some marketers too–trust me, I’ve seen it) don’t really get what its all about.  Will it work for your business?  Well, the answer to that depends…but let’s start with the basics. Common Craft has created this short video to help us understand the very basics of blogging (short for web-logging by the way )…

By: Marie, Director of Marketing Communications

Twitter. The strange new animal on the internet. As eager as you are to be up-to-date and computer savvy, all the new internet options can be intimidating. Here, Corey from eBoot deciphers the phenomena of Twitter. Turns out, it’s not such a strange animal after all, but rather a helpful tool for your business.

Good luck and happy tweeting!

By Nicole Pepper, Account Associate

Greetings eBoot Campers! First, let me welcome all of our new subscribers. This email comes twice a month and my goal is to give you something you can do TODAY to increase your business via the Web. And with that, on to today’s topic: Twitter! If you haven’t heard the buzz going around about the micro-blogging site Twitter.com, you soon will. It’s by far the hottest social networking application in the ever-evolving world of Internet marketing. But, should you join the cyber-party.

Before I answer that question, let’s define what Twitter is. Twitter is a Web site where you can follow what people are saying and they can follow what you are saying. The unique thing about Twitter is that they only allow you to write your “tweet” (or written message) in 140 characters or less.Yep, in the ‘more is less’ world of Internet communication, they have the audacity to make us be short and to the point with everything we write. The nerve!

When you follow someone, each of their tweets shows up on your personal Web page. And when you tweet, each of your messages shows up on their Twitter page. One of the distinct differences between Twitter and other social communities such as Facebook or Linkedin is the more liberal screening process people seem to have on Twitter when deciding who to connect with. It’s not uncommon to follow complete strangers based on knowing very little about them. You can blink and have hundreds of people following you or vice versa. For an even clearer definition of Twitter, go to www.twitter.com and watch the video in the top right-hand corner of the page.

So, on to the question of if you should add Twitter as part of your Internet marketing repertoire. My answer is Yes and No. Let me explain. My answer is no if you’re simply looking for a tool to sell more of your products or services. In my opinion, it’s just not being used that way and people frown upon heavy promoting and selling. However, if you are looking to create more online relationships, expand your brand, or stay on the bleeding edge of information in your industry, then I wholeheartedly recommend that you jump on Twitter right away.

A colleague of mine, Perry Belcher, had a great analogy of how to view  Twitter. It’s like hosting a huge party. You wouldn’t invite someone to your party and immediately try and sell them the second you opened the door. Instead, you’d greet them, invite them in, have a conversation and potentially engage in business if the opportunity presents itself. This is exactly how Twitter works as well.

Twitter can be a great opportunity for you to engage people with similar interests in an incredibly fast and effective way. So here are the steps to create your Twitter account:

1. Go to Twitter.com www.twitter.com and register for an account. It’s free!

2. Take some time and fill out your profile. The more thought out your profile is, the more likely people will follow you.

3. Write your first tweet. Let everyone know you are new to the site and find a fun way to introduce yourself.

4. Look for some of your friends on Twitter. You have a friend in me! Just go to www.twitter.com/coreyperlman and www.twitter.com/ebootcamp and click “follow” and you will then be following me.

You’ll be able to see all the people that I follow and can follow them as well if you choose. For the next few weeks, tweet at least once a day. It takes all ofabout 2-3 minutes, so don’t worry about finding the time. You can also write your tweets via your cell phone. See Twitter.com for instructions on how to do that.

A couple of final notes about Twitter:

* Try not to just tweet about what you are doing. Although that is the theme of Twitter.com, most people like to offer some value in some of their tweets. For example, did you see a really good article (maybe like the one you’re reading and want to share it with your followers? Simply highlight the article link and add it as a tweet.
* You don’t have to be too picky on who you follow. It’s easy to un-follow someone if they are tweeting too much or for any other reason.
* On occasion, it is ok to promote your products or services. Just remember the party analogy – don’t overdue it and annoy people. Communicate on a personal level with people and build trust. There will be plenty of opportunity down the road to conduct business if the opportunity presents itself naturally. * Write a tweet at least twice a week. That should take all of about 5 minutes total!

Ok my friends, enough with the analysis paralysis, get out there and start TWEETING!

See you in Twitterville!

Corey

Thanks Everyone! Corey www.EbootCampBook.com

We have all heard of the increasingly growing social network scene on the internet, but has your business acted upon it yet? It is a fairly new and successful way to help your business grow and gain attention from desired audience.

Here are some of the most popular social networks:

Facebook,Twitter,LinkedIn,Myspace and any blog website like Blogger.

If you aren’t familiar with these networks, you should really do some research and see how it works for your business. One that is not as familiar as Facebook or Myspace is Twitter. Peter Shankman, Social Media Guru, is a big advocate of Twitter. Basically, you write a sentence of 160 characters on your page. It can be about anything you want, such as an update about your company, a complaint, friendly advice, even a funny joke you heard yesterday. The nice thing about these networks is that they are all free and easy to use! How do they help your business? Well, first of all they build up your network incredibly. You have user profiles on each site to represent your company and what it’s all about. Once you have these websites, they can appear in the Google search engine when someone researches your company. They can appeal to any of your targeted audiences, and each network tool is different from the next.

LinkedIn is like an online generated resume and professional business advertisement without the marketing tactics. Facebook has become more popular among businesses than Myspace in recent years, but are both very useful. The best things in life are free, right? Try it out; your business can reap the benefits of free social networking. Hey, if you don’t like it…you delete your account.

Good luck!

By: Kailey

DScribed’s goal is to bring our clients and friends news and information to help your business grow!  Check out this new offering from Google, Goog 411!  It’s the next generation 411.  Any person can dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-4664-411) from any telephone to use Google’s free new 411 service.  Our advice to you as a business owner: Make sure you sign up to be listed on Goog 411.  You can find DScribed on the service by dialing 1-800-GOOG-411, and when prompted, asking for “Hicksville New York” and “Marketing Agency.”  It takes about two weeks to get listed and it’s free of charge.  Try it today!

By: Tina, Director of Marketing Communications

Check out this short video clip filled with some of the best business advice we’ve heard in a while from two very successful CEOs!  The popular phrase: “Necessity is the mother of invention,” is uttered in this clip and in this economic climate, that sentiment is even more appropriate than ever before.  Watch this video every time the going gets tough and you will be inspired to “Just DO!”

By: Tina, Director of Marketing Communications

This is a great video we stumbled upon during our hourly, er, I mean rare trips through the wonderful world of YouTube!  Everybody throws out words like SEO (ok, that’s an acronym, but you get the point), Searchability etc.  What does it really mean?  How does it work?  And how can you make your site work for you?  I always say if you aren’t getting consistent QUALIFIED leads from your website, you are doing something wrong, and here’s one way to do something right.

This video is made by the good people at Google, so trust what they are saying, and the next time a web company sells you a totally Flash website, remember this video, and you can save tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention countless missed leads…(ok, I’m getting off the soapbox, for at least a minute)…Enjoy!

By: Tina, Director of Marketing Communications

Where can you find information to help transform your business and increase sales? Check out our blog.  We hope to provide visitors and users with valuable information to help you grow your business.  No gimmicks, no sales pitches, just real-life commentary on marketing trends, tactics and advice to help you succeed.  Enjoy and come back often!

By: Tina, Director of Marketing Communications