Advertising Blog

Embracing Analog in a Digital World

I was talking to a fellow business owner the other day who is newer to running their own business. While we were talking, they told me “I am so not good at technology, but that’s the only way to grow my business…so I’m trying to learn” I’ve heard this from other...

What is USP and do I need to do it?

Question: I hear a lot about USP on social media. What is it and do I need to do it? Answer:  A unique selling point or USP is the thing you do better than your competitors. It’s externally focused on what your competitors are doing and how you outshine them. For...

The Power of Pivoting in Business

Pivoting is powerful stuff. It’s where the magic lies and knowing when, where, and how to pivot is crucial. When we don’t change, we set ourselves up for future failure. Pivots help us correct course when like Marty McFly we end up going 88 mph in the wrong direction....

Mastering Differentiation in Business

Differentiation is the act of standing out from your competition. It’s a huge part of branding and marketing your business. Differentiation works because of the perceived value of your offer. The more valuable it seems to someone the more likely they are to want to...

The Power of Clear Communication in Building Your Business Brand

Last November after a frustrating day dealing with bureaucracy and getting shuffled from window to window only to find out I did not have the right paperwork. It came into stark relief how important customer service and clear communication are in business. Your...

Master Your Brand: Avoid These 3 Common Mistakes for Lasting Impact!

Let’s chat about branding mistakes, but before we do I want to reframe the concept of a mistake. A lot of us learned mistakes will get you in trouble and cause a punishment and they’re thought of very negatively because of that. I recognize that no one wants to make...

The Power of Collaboration for Small Business Success

I love reading Forbes, and when they announced that around 80% of all small businesses in the USA are run by a single person with no employees. My first reaction was, Holy Smokes that’s a lot of people running businesses! I find this interesting though because it...

Harmony in Branding: The Power of Consistency Across Platforms

According to Forbes a consistent presence on all platforms can increase revenue by 23%. Consistent here doesn’t mean doing something as part of a routine. It means repetition. Sharing the same things, in the same way, no matter where you happen to be sharing your...

Being Different Matters: Stick Out Like a Bear Driving A Car

What makes your business stick out like a bear driving a car? I mean if you saw a bear driving a car you’d stop and look…right.  If only to say “holy hamburger! there’s a bear driving a car!” Well, good brands have something, called a unique selling proposition or...

The Hidden Power of Brand Positioning in Marketing and Branding

­One of the most insightful and frustrating things I’ve ever heard in my professional career came from my most recent brand strategy teacher. In trying to explain how we were to do things for the class, the teacher told us “The problem isn’t the problem. The problem...

Does Content Really Matter?

I love trivia and interesting bits of information. One of these comes from the Content Marketing Institute. They claim that articles that are shorter than 3,000 words actually are rated third among business-to-business content materials that create the best results in...

Should You Reuse Old Content?

I saw a statistic from HubSpot the other day, it said that 51% of companies believe updating old content has proven the most efficient tactic they have implemented. Now when they say "content" what they are referring to most of the time is written text. This can be...

Finding your Ideal Client can be as easy as One-Two-Three

After a decade of sitting down with businesses as a brand strategy and graphic design specialist helping businesses in my native Orange County California and nationwide, I’ve made a few observations about businesses and their advertising, so let’s chat today about who...

why branding, marketing and pr matter

A common misconception that I hear a lot is that public relations (PR), marketing, and branding are all the same thing and that there’s no point in investing in all of them. While there might be some overlap here and there, these are three totally different...

Are you listening or are you hearing your clients?

I read a lot of blogs and articles that always tell you to talk to your clients. Really talk to them and find out what they want. I’ve encouraged you to do that too, but I forgot to mention a crucial piece of that – listening. Today I want to talk about what it means...

The “Math-y Stuff” that Will Grow Your Business

Numbers. Data. Metrics. Analytics. Whatever you want to call them, they matter. I know it seems maybe a little odd for a person in a creative field like graphic design to talk about them, but I have to talk about them – that’s how much they matter. Let’s chat about...

5 Things You Need to Craft a Good Sales Message

I’m not a professional copywriter, but I’ve written my fair share of sales messages over the years.  Some were for clients who are struggling with their writing, but most were for me. I’ve also read a lot of sales messages and seen which ones have pulled in customers...