Network Solutions – Small business conversations and working together for small business success

It’s Time for Your Marketing to Get Wicked…

My name is Michael Dougherty, Mike if you don’t mind, and, through this blog, I will bring you content whose focus is to help you get into the mindset of marketing your company…from the point of view of your clients.  Besides, they are really the ones who pay the bills, right?

To get it out of the way, as if you couldn’t tell, the tone of this blog series will not be stuffy, terminology laden, or over your head with jargon.  Steven Fisher came to me and asked if I’d like to tackle a blog.  I expressed my concern, because my approach isn’t necessarily…for the faint of heart.  I tend to be blunt, direct, and to the point, but with a sense of humor.  I believe if you’re going to be spending the money on it…marketing your business should not only pay for itself, taken seriously, but you should have a bit of fun as well.  Steven reassured me that the blog will be geared not to designers, but people either in their first years of business or who just want to think about expanding the visual branding of their company.

I understand that things like bleed, taglines, font weight, scope creep, appropriate resolution for a web banner or large printing run, and a wide variety of industry related terms may turn you off or confuse you.

So relax.

If those type of terms do pop up from time to time I’m going to find an easily understandable comparisons to put them in plain speak for you.  Please don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying this is going to be the “See Spot Run” of blogs in this genre, but if you’re reading this, you’re someone who is interested in learning more about how to get your business out there to the masses, may have had some frustrations dealing with marketing your business, and have some fun while you do it.  This series should feel like a conversation with someone over a cup of coffee and not something you need to jump up and grab a dictionary for at every paragraph.

I’m bringing over ten years of experience in fields of marketing and design to help be the translator between the business owner and the designer as well as the marketing and the customer.  Being of the rare breed of designers who balance well between print and web (there’s a world of difference between the two and in future posts you’ll learn why), I tend to focus on designs with a focus on sales and marketing for my clients.  As a large portion of my work experience has been with startup companies, I spend a lot of time finding creative solutions to help business owners, marketing managers and startup companies effectively understand why a visual brand is an extremely effective tool for their business that not only needs to be created, but maintained and nurtured.

So grab a cup of your favorite beverage, of course mine being coffee, and join me each week for a rare glimpse into the mindset, expectations and opinions of a professional graphic/web designer.  Some of my posts will run parallel with some of the blogs here on Network Solutions, but my goal is to support them to help you get the most out of your business. I look forward to give you some topics that may spark some thoughts or conversations. I also look forward to hearing your horror stories, successes and thoughts on each topic.

Until next time…stay wicked.

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