The Blog

Branding: The Big Idea
Wendy Baird

Branding: The Big Idea

  • By Wendy Baird
  • February 2, 2015
  • branding

I’m a people person. It’s through relationships and one-on-one communication that I feel I am most effective. So of course, one of my favorite parts of the creative branding process is the meeting with an organization’s CEO and key players during the discovery phase. Asking some important questions to key individuals reveals so much about the organization and helps determine the creative choices we will make during the rebranding process. Listening, learning, watching interactions, and observing the culture—all of these actions inform and inspire how we will develop strategic recommendations and ultimately, brand design and messaging.

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Free Online Alternatives to Photoshop
Bethany Howell

Free Online Alternatives to Photoshop

  • By Bethany Howell
  • January 20, 2015
  • Tools

Want to turn boring images into better, more eye-catching visual masterpieces for your blog and social media posts but don’t want to invest hundreds of dollars on Photoshop? Then this post is definitely for you. There is no reason why our clients can’t add photos to their websites and social media sites on their own. Actually we encourage it. That is after all, why we have turned to WordPress to create all of our websites. It makes it so you, as the client can edit your website and and add photos on your own without always having to ask us for help.

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User Experience and Other Marketing Trends for 2015
Tara Urso

User Experience and Other Marketing Trends for 2015

It’s a new year and most likely, you’re thinking of new ways to reach your target market. Last year we made some digital marketing predictions for 2014, but what’s becoming exceedingly clear is that there should not be a separation between marketing and digital marketing. It’s true that there are traditional marketing tactics (i.e. direct mail, print advertising) which still have their place, but digital marketing should not be an afterthought. “Digital Marketing” should automatically be included in your marketing mix.

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Using Brand Transparency to Correct Negative Connotations
Tara Urso

Using Brand Transparency to Correct Negative Connotations

  • By Tara Urso
  • December 15, 2014
  • strategy

Each year, organizations pay millions in marketing efforts. Whether it’s content marketing, video, outdoor, print ads, social media campaigns,etc., it’s clear to brands that it’s more important than ever to mold and maintain their audience’s perception. While “branding” is defined as what your audience collectively thinks of you, it’s up to the organization to provide brand messaging and create experiences or your audience will run amok. Through the internet and social media, consumers can investigate anything and everything about your brand, and they will. This is why brands who are transparent are the ones that will thrive.

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Basic HTML You Should Know
Bethany Howell

Basic HTML You Should Know

One of the neat things about a WordPress website or blog is that you don’t need to have any coding skills. Whether you’re running a simple blog or a business website, you can get by just fine without knowing code. The array of built-in features and customization options that come with most plugins and themes enable you to create a site that makes you look like a programming whiz.

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5 Facts About Baltimore Brand Old Bay
Tara Urso

5 Facts About Baltimore Brand Old Bay

Facts about baltimore brand old bay

When thinking of uniquely Maryland brands, a few that always come to mind are Under Armour, Natty Boh and of course, Old Bay. Marylanders are known for their brand loyalty. Search Instagram and Twitter for #oldbay and you’ll find hundreds of photos of people showing their Maryland pride with their favorite seasoning blend.

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7 Tips for Responding to Negative Comments on Social Media
Wendy Baird

7 Tips for Responding to Negative Comments on Social Media

As a small business owner, consultant or upper-level manager in a professional services firm, you’re busy, and each day, more and more demands are made on your time. Your company made the dive into social media, and now your agency tells you that you got a negative review on Facebook or some suspect comments on your blog. So you’re thinking, “why did we ever say we would do this social media in the first place?” Well, it’s because you also want to reach more people, be known as a thought leader, and more than that, have an engaged audience. But what happens if you’ve got that “one bad apple” among lots of healthy, positive engagement?

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Is Blogging Really Necessary?
Bethany Howell

Is Blogging Really Necessary?

  • By Bethany Howell
  • September 26, 2014
  • blogging

What are your goals?

Over the past few months we have been updating a bunch of our client websites to WordPress and with that has come the synonymous question of whether or not they “need” to have a blog on their site. The answer depends on a few key elements: The goals you have for your website, the size of your current audience, your current domain rank, if others sites with a high domain rank are regularly linking to your site and whether your website is regularly putting out fresh content in other ways. If the end doesn’t justify the means, spending time on blogging may not be for you. However, if your company is putting time, energy and money into a new website, it could all be for nothing without a blog. It all depends on your goals.

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