Graphic Design

2011-05-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

Create an Email Newsletter
Mailchimp is one of the best web designer resources for producing email newsletters. A free account is available, limited to 2000 subscribers and 12,000 emails monthly.

Get started by signing up at at Mailchimp.com.

Then after signing up follow Mailchimp's easy steps:

Upload your recipient email list.
Select a pre-designed email template.
Customize your email. McGraphics created our "Marketing Tips" banner artwork.
Add and format your written content.
Email/publish your newsletter.

To learn how to work with Mailchimp download a "Getting Started with MailChimp" pdf. Or watch how-to videos.

We hope you will consider McGraphics Design for your graphic design projects.
Email Kathleen McGuinness or call 626 799-219 if you have any questions.

Google Alerts, the free Clipping Service

2011-04-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

For $60 a month (or 60¢ an article) you can hire a press clipping service to supply press clippings on your company, industry, or product or your competitors' companies or products.

But for free you can create Google Alerts to search web pages, newspaper articles and blogs for you.

If this sounds good sign up for a Google Account if you don't have one at google.com/accounts. Then follow these steps.

1. Sign into your Google Account and go to google.com/alerts
2. Type in your search terms, like a company name
3. Select options:
• How often
• Best results or all results
• Email you want to use
• Type, what you want searched: news, blogs, realtime, videos, or discussions
4. Click Preview
5. If you like the preview click Create Alert

Then sit back and wait for the results to be emailed to you.

Let us know if this tip has been helpful.

Kathleen McGuinness
kat@mcgraphics.us
McGraphics Design
Creative Design Solutions for Print and Web
(626) 799-2195
South Pasadena, CA 91030
http://www.mcgraphics.us

From Twitter to Tumblr

2011-01-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

Are you tired of the Facebook/Twitter bandwagon? Hip businesses are migrating their viral marketing from stale social networks to Tumblr. Why?
It's super easy to set up a blog, Facebook and Twitter integration all in one site, total mobileability, the blogs are completely customizable to fit your style, and it's FREE!

Here's how to set up your Tumblr blog.

1. Begin by going to http://www.tumblr.com, and filling in your email address. Then create a password and Tumblr url (This is not the title of your blog, so it doesn't need to exactly match your business.). Ours is http://www.mcgraphics.tumblr.com.

2. Next, Tumbler will guide you through the steps to customize your blog, including giving it a title, writing a description, and adding a photo.

3. Then you will be prompted to follow other Tumblrs; keep in mind that the more people you follow, the better chance you have to spread your message. So find bloggers with your interests and click follow.

4. Under your Blog Title on the right hand side, click "Customize". Now use the top menu to customize your blog, and add new features.

• Click "Themes" then click an image to alter the look of your blog. Tip: for the free themes scroll down past the themes that charge.

• Click "Services" to set up links to Facebook, Twitter, Barnburner and an RSS feed.

• Click "Community" to set up how followers have access to your blog, such as giving them power to reply and ask questions.

• Click "Save+Close" and keep your blog updated often; make it interesting to gain more followers!

5. Now click the icons for text, photos, links, audio and video to add your first post. Congratulations, and good luck marketing your brand!

Get a reporter to write about your business

2010-09-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

Here's how to get a reporter to write about your business.

1. Create a fascinating story, maybe a company innovation or human interest item.
2. Draft a short outline of your story.
3. Write a concise 30-second script about your story. This is what you will tell the reporter later on the phone.
4. Practice your script with co-workers until you've got the kinks ironed out.
5. Now call a reporter who deals with your type of story (business, entertainment, human interest) and using your script, pitch the story. Pitching to voice mail works, too.
* Reporters' contact links below.
7. Send a follow-up E-mail which includes your story outline.
8. Call to follow-up.

* Los Angeles Times contact for reporters,
http://www.latimes.com/about/mediagroup/la-mediacenter-editorial_staff,0,3
058915.htmlstory
E-mail address format: Firstname.Lastname@latimes.com

San Gabriel Valley Tribune (like the Pasadena Star News) contact for reporters, http://www.sgvtribune.com/contactus

And also check out the McGraphics Design portfolio at
http://www.mcgraphics.us/pdf.

Vladimir Pavlov

McGraphics Design
Creative Design Solutions for Print and Web
(626) 799-2195
http://www.mcgraphics.us

Creating create a successful brand name, avoiding a bad one

2010-07-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here are helpful tips to create a successful brand name while avoiding name picking pitfalls.

• Learn from the experts.
Read books like "Powerlines: Words that Sell Brands, Grip Rands, and Sometimes Change History," by Steve Cone, and “How Brands Become Icons” by Douglas Holt.

• Check for homonyms.
This ensures that your brand will not be confused with another word which is pronounced or spelled the same (e.g.,
“Mike’s Bowl Zone” could either be a bowling alley, or sell bowls and other dishes.).
See a list at http://www.cooper.com/alan/homonym_list.html.

• Translate it.
Check your word in other languages to see how it looks and sounds.
http://thesaurus.com/translate.

• Use social dictionaries.
Search social media sites like Twitter and Urban Dictionary to get a sense of how your word is being used.

• Is it legal?
Cover your bases, search for a patent or copyright attorney.

• Stand out.
Use a professional design firm like McGraphics Design to get your brand noticed.

Free online magazine versions of print favorites

2010-02-16T15:42:00.000-08:00

Inspire and inform your marketing and advertising stradegies by reading free online magazine versions of print favorites like:

Advertising Age
adage.com

Adweek
adweek.com

Brandweek
brandweek.com

Online newspapers are a great resource, too. LAtimes.com is free.
And NYtimes.com won't start charging for unlimited access until Jan 2011.

Inspiration for the tough times

2009-12-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

Need inspiration to get you through the tough times?
Watch some of the best marketing/sales videos for free, without having to sign-up, at sellingpower.com.
Click "Most Popular" on the left-side navigation bar.

Want to improve marketing to 8.4% of your audience?

2009-11-04T09:38:00.000-08:00

Want to improve marketing to 8.4% of your audience?

8% of men and .4% of women are color blind. So, if you understand how color blindness affects how people see color, you can improve the effectiveness of your marketing materials.

To see how color blindness changes image colors visit http://www.mcgraphics.us/art/color

And if you would like to see how your images are affected contact us at 626 799-2195 or kat@mcgraphics.us.
We'll take your jpg or pdf and email you a "color blind" version—FREE.

Vladimir Pavlov
Kathleen McGuinness

2009-09-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

Want to improve your marketing ROI, return on investment? Create more accurate Analytics. Analytics or data analysis will help you predict the outcome of current or future projects.

But where do you get the data?

For data on your web site try Google Analytics. Sign up for free at http://www.google.com/analytics.

And though Google Analytics is geared for web, you may get some good ideas to improve data mining for your print and advertising marketing, too.

And just for fun, Madmen yourself at http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/madmenyourself. It's free with no registration. You can download the cool 1950s comic avatar you create.

Local Search-engine Quotient

2009-08-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

Maximize your company's visibility by signing up for local listings FREE in city-specific directories.

You can check out your "Local Search-engine Quotient" (LSQ) by typing in your company name and location (e.g., McGraphics AND Pasadena CA) into the search field of major search engines like Google.com and Yahoo.com. If none of the local directories listed below appear in your search results, your LSQ score is zero.

Localeze
InfoUSA
Best of the Web
Superpages
Openlist
Yelp
InsiderPages
CityVoter
Google Local
Yahoo! Local
MSN Live Local
Dmoz

It takes time to fill out listings, but making your company easy to find is worth the effort. And, by adding inbound links to your website on directories, you will boost your rankings and key-word relevancy through major search engines like Google and Yahoo, which improves your SEO.

Social Network – where to post online

2009-07-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

If you think you haven’t got time to write content for viral marketing consider repurposing press releases.
Here are four free places to post online:

1. Business Week. Their online exchange encourages you to post content. Register free at bx.businessweek.com.

2. Twitter.com. You’ll need to edit your press release to fit Twitter’s 140 character limit.

3. Facebook.com. If you’ve got a personal page, use another email account to set up a business Facebook. This is where you will put your press releases.

4. Blogger.com or WordPress.com offer free blogs like ours at McGraphicDesign.blogspot.com.

Getting in the habit of posting press releases online is a great way to develop a viral, social networking, marketing campaign.

Two 2009 marketing trends

2009-03-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

Trend 1. Twitter.com, the social networking phenom is fast and free to join. As a member you respond to, or follow responses to the question “What are you doing.” A less known Twitter use is to download Twhirl (http://twitter.com/downloads) and subscribe to the New York Times, CNN and other news feeds.

The downside of Twitter is that its constant shotgun communication is an acquired taste and too chaotic for most of us.

Trend 2. Graphic novels like best sellers Dark Knight, Watchmen and the Spirit as well as Manga, which are Japanese comics.

No downside to creating your own comic or graphic novels like our McGraphics Design comic Aliens Anonymous at http://tinyurl.com/aocdad

Keep your brochure small

2008-01-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

Thinking about doing a small brochure for your business. Then consider a 2-panel 9" x 12" instead of the standard 3 or 4 panel brochure.

Here are four reasons a smaller brochure will work for you:

1. Two panels open like a book

2. No fiddling with folds

3. No guessing which panel to read next

4. The focus is on your marketing message rather than the brochure structure

And here are ways to use a well designed 2-panel brochure:

1. Trade shows

2. Handout or leave behind

3. Direct mail or include with a letter

4. Place in your Chamber of Commerce brochure rack