How to Customize Your Twitter Background

September 13, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in Branding, Social Media

One of the things that we’re always preaching about is consistency of your brand throughout your different marketing materials – and that includes online avenues as well.  From your website to Facebook to Twitter, you need to make sure that you have a consistent image.  One thing that I see far too often is people just using standard Twitter backgrounds and a poorly chosen headshot for their profile image.  If you’re a small business person the different places that you interact with your customers, business associates and other important contacts are ALL important.  We’ve talked about Personalizing Twitter a while back but I thought I would tell you how you can create and change your twitter background.

I’ll show you briefly how we made our background:

ARK Squared Twitter Background

There’s two main pieces that you’ll have to make and it’s easiest to start with the left “sidebar” area.  The sidebar image size I’ve had the best success with is 235 pixels wide by 700 pixels tall.  If you go any wider or taller you risk having important information cut off.  That being said, still make sure that your most important information is not near the extreme edges, just in case.

So our side image we started with ended up like this (in a larger size of course!):

ARK Squared Twitter Sidebar Image

Make sure that you give the image a transparent background so when you add it into the full image it doesn’t have a white background or another colour.

Next you want to make the full background image. This image should be about 2560 pixels wide by 1600 pixels tall. Once you get this ready make sure you add your correctly sized “sidebar” image placed in the top left corner. Our image looks like this (again, small for demonstration purposes):

ARK Squared Twitter Background ImageSo we’ve got our sidebar image in there, and starting just before the halfway point we did a repeating collage style design.  I’ve also seen other designers do 3 right sidebars starting at about the same point and increasing in size so it hits up various screen resolutions.  I like the collage style or something that is not as dependent on particular screen resolutions so your image doesn’t get cut off funny.

Once you get that large image ready all you need to do is these steps:

  1. Open up twitter in your browser, and sign in if you’re not already signed in
  2. On the right side of the top black/charcoal menu bar click on the grey profile outline icon with the little down arrow beside it and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu
  3. In the left-hand menu select “Design”
  4. Scroll all the way down to the bottom and in the “Customize your own” section click the “Choose File” button and find the twitter background image where you saved it and click “Open”, make sure that the box for “tile background” is not selected
  5. Set your background and link colours to colours that match your image. So for ours we used white for the “background” (#ffffff) and set the “link colour” to a light blue, (#0084B4). It is very important if you manually enter your colours that you make sure to use the number sign and then a six digit code, if you don’t it won’t work. You also have the choice of clicking on the colour block and selecting the colour you like from the rainbow that pops up. Save changes.
  6. Navigate to your home page via the very top-left icon to make sure it looks right

Once you do that you should have a customized twitter background image!  What a way to look professional. Don’t forget to make sure that you now have a professional headshot or good quality logo (in a square format!) for your profile image – that’s what everyone will see in their feeds so make sure it’s good!

Google Doodles Show Fun Corporate Culture

September 07, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in Marketing, Networking

I’ve always been a fan of the Google Doodles, and I really like the interactive ones!  Today’s doodle paying tribute to the 46th Anniversary of the original series of Star Trek doesn’t disappoint!  You get to use the transporter, see them on the bridge, and smack a bad guy over the head!  Lots of fun.

Star Trek Google Doodle

What the Doodle today really made me think about is the importance of corporate culture for the success of your business.  We all can see how successful Google has become and many other companies with great corporate cultures, think of Virgin and it’s many subsidiaries.  Companies like this focus very intentionally on how their staff interact with both each other and their clients, and it’s obviously working, both of those companies are incredibly successful.

So think about that the next time you’re getting ready to hire an employee or even the next time you’re at a networking event.  How do you want your company portrayed, both internally and externally? It’s definitely something that a business owner has to not only think about but take actions towards.  If you want a certain atmosphere/culture/feel for your company make the decision and stick to it!

Summer’s Almost Over – Get Ready for Fall Now!

August 30, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in Social Media

“It’s the most wonderful time, of the year…” I can almost hear the Staples commercial now! Kids go back to school, days get shorter and cooler (hopefully not too much!) and our excuses for our social media, blogging, newsletters, etc being sporadic go out the window! Thought I’d share a couple tips for staying on top of things and getting organized before what can be a crazy busy time of year really starts off.

  1. Schedule some Social Media Posts.
    There are so many great tools out there to manage your Social Media – be that Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, whatever. We’ve talked about Social Media Management Tools in the past, and we re-iterate here briefly – get one, figure it out, and start using it! Social Media is such a great way to connect with your customers, business contacts, etc, and it’s FREE, so why not? Our tool of choice is HootSuite, and if you’re going to be out of town but want to stay active on your social media you can schedule a few quotes to go out, articles to highlight, etc. But don’t forget to monitor it! No point sending out the tweets/updates/etc if you’re not going to interact with anyone that comments on it!
  2. Get a Social Media App for your Smartphone.
    This flows nicely from the previous point. If you’re going to be away from your computer, it’s a great way to stay connected. Stuck in line waiting to pick up or drop off your kid from school? Why not check on some tweets? A good Social Media App can let you stay connected on the go. If you use Hoot Suite for example, you can keep any of the customizations, lists, etc, and be able to access them anywhere by using Hoot Suite’s mobile app.  Other services have apps too. It can be a great way to take advantage of any of those times where you’re stuck in a long line or just waiting for something – instead of getting frustrated that it’s taking a while why not pull out your smartphone and interact with some people? Saves you frustration and keeps you engaged!
  3. Schedule your Blogs and Newsletters.
    Much like scheduling your social media posts you can do that with your blogging or newsletters too.  Why not take advantage of the little bit of lull that’s left?  If you’re expecting to be busy come the fall take advantage of your quieter times to focus on yourself/your company and get as many things pre-written as possible. You can adjust the content, times they post, etc, if you want to if you decide to add additional posts or adjust posts to add current content or items related to current events, the posts are not set in stone once you schedule them.
  4. Write Yourself a Social Media, Blog, overall interaction calendar.
    One of the best ways to stay organized and on top of your Blogging for sure and other interactions as well, is to write yourself a calendar. Pick what day of the week you want to write and come up with topics, titles, whatever will get you thinking about it enough, and write them all in. Saves the “darn, what am I going to write about this week? Oh well, I’ll think of it tomorrow…” problem. The more organized you are the more time you’ll save!

Overall just remember, Social Media is most effective if it has a plan. I’m not saying you have to schedule everything, far from it. But if you have a plan for how you want to run your Social Media it will be more effective, just like any marketing. Not sure how to start or use Social Media? We’d love to connect you with some great people that specialize in it, just contact us and we’ll connect you!

If you have some great tips or tricks for staying on top of your social media please feel free to share!

My Pet Peeves with Bad Web-Designers

August 21, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in Web Design

When coming up with new blog topics there are a few ways I think of ideas. Sometimes educating, thinking of things that my clients or other web designers may want to know, or educating people on something I wish they knew that would make my life easier, or also sharing some things that drive me CRAZY that I wish people would not do – this is one of those types of posts. I wanted to share with you my top 4 things that drive me crazy that other, likely BAD, web designers do.

1. “I designed the website so if you want to keep using it you have to pay me, if you stop paying me you lose the website”.

I have come across this a couple times with clients.  They have a nice website and they come to me to get a re-designed, or similarly designed website and I’m scratching my head as to why they even want a new site.  Upon questioning I learn that they’re paying a ridiculous amount of money monthly to keep their site live.  Their signed an agreement with their original designer that the website is not their own, thus, if they stop paying they lose their site.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves with other designers. I’m sorry, but think of buying a product like a coffee for example, if I went to Starbucks and ordered a coffee, do they charge me a dollar a minute and if I stop paying take my cup away and throw it out?  Sure they wouldn’t get much business or happy customers if they did that!  How is a website any different?  It’s a product that’s been designed for the client, they’ve BOUGHT it, so in my opinion it should be THEIR’S, not held hostage for a monthly ransom!  Rest assured, if you’re a client of ours we would not do this to you!

2. Using a Content Management System, such as WordPress, but not making it easily editable by the client (or other designers for that matter)

One of the selling features I often use for the websites that I design is that you can have it set up so that if you want to do the edits you can and we’ll set it up so any parts of the site you want to be able to edit you can and we’ll show you how to do it.  So designers that make websites using a Content Management system like WordPress and then have a ton of the website area not editable with WordPress drive me crazy. What’s the point of using WordPress if you can’t use WordPress to edit it?? Defeats the purpose if you ask me!  Sure, sometimes it’s easier and better to control not having it accessible by WordPress, but then you’re making it so just the designer can make changes and the end user cannot, not good.

One of the great things with WordPress is that there are tons of Plug-ins, Widgets, etc, that you can take advantage of that play so nicely with WordPress that they’re easy to maintain.  So there’s often little point of putting it outside of the editing capabilities of WordPress.

3. Messy Code

I know every designer hopes that any website they design will always be maintained by them, but that’s definitely not the case. It doesn’t matter how awesome you are, how great your service is, etc, at some point one of your clients will probably go somewhere else. So it would make sense to have your code nice and organized so anyone could pick it up and be able to make adjustments.  As a designer it also makes you look good to your peers.  There have been far too many times in my design career where I’ve agreed to maintain, add on to, etc, someone else’s design, template, etc, only to find out that their code was disastrous. I look at the code and think, “Even if I wrote that myself, how in the world would I remember where to edit things a year later??” Organized code is like an organized office, makes everything easier and efficient.

4. Easy Route vs. Proper Route

Much along the lines of messy code – it may be easy to do something one way, but just because it’s easy doesn’t mean that it will be easy later! It’s like when you finish eating lunch, it’s easier to just put your dirty dishes in the sink instead of washing them or rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher, but when you get to the pile of dishes at the end of the day you’re kicking yourself for not having dealt with it in the first place. Same should apply to coding/designing websites.

There was one project we did where we were taking an existing template and website from a client and designing a couple additional websites using the same template.  We realized that the old designers had made what looked on the surface like a great site, but once we looked at the code there were MANY things that could have been done WAY better. They had great little boxes on the site for testimonials but they were set up in such a way that only the designer could change the content, no access to it with WordPress. So when our client got new testimonials, maybe ones that were better, they couldn’t take full advantage of them. So when we designed the new site we too the extra hour to figure out how to do it PROPERLY and have it so the testimonials area was editable so they could choose what was shown there.  A whole whopping hour, really not the end of the world!

A website is an investment, yes, but having a great face for your company is crucial. Make sure that if you’re going to get a website designed for you that you check out your web designer. Take a look at the kind of work they’ve done, find out what sort of tools they use, and see if they can make something that works for you.  If they can’t then ask someone else!

Adobe Creative Cloud – Design Programs Now Affordable!

August 15, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in Branding, Technology, Web Design

While thinking about what to write this week I was thinking about what sort of things have made my life easier as a designer, and the software that I use came to mind.  I have been using Adobe products for over 15 years, and Macromedia as well before Adobe bought them, and the different they make for my final products designed for clients are huge.  I don’t think that I could function as a designer without Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver.  So when my version from a couple years ago started to get very dated I was not looking forward to having to pay the huge amount for an upgrade – but then Adobe introduced Creative Cloud.

Creative Cloud has been AMAZING!  I pay a nominal fee monthly, currently they’re charging $50/month, and I have access to the entire Creative Suite and any and ALL updates, upgrades, etc.  I never have to worry about my software getting outdated again!  The monthly amount also would likely be cheaper then if I upgraded regularly when they come out with new versions, and makes it fit into the budget much easier.  Only negative so far is that I personally had MUCH difficulty downloading and installing the software, had to surrender my computer to our Technical Director for a few days to figure it out, and that affected my productivity understandably!  Other than that I’ve been VERY happy.

Aside from the price and staying up-to-date, there are a ton of features that I haven’t even had a chance to take advantage of yet.  We can use the Adobe TypeKit for our clients websites to use unique fonts online in web designs, store design files in the cloud online so I can access them anywhere, and way more.  There are also more programs available to me than I will likely ever use.

So if you’re a designer looking to stay up-to-date and have all the tools you need for your design projects but working on a limited budget – or even just want to work smarter – check it out, we recommend it highly!  And will also say, so far I’m LOVING the CS6 upgrades in comparison to my old CS4!

Volunteering – Great Way to Increase Your Work Experience!

July 31, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in Networking

We’ve talked about Volunteering in the past and how great it is for Networking in our post Overlooked Networking Opportunity – Volunteering!  But what about for the great experience it can give you?  The amount that you can learn is phenomenal, and often you don’t have to pay a thing for it, in some cases even they pay for you to increase your experience.

No matter what industry you’re in there’s probably an opportunity to volunteer – or if you don’t want it to relate to work then volunteer in a way that lines up with one of your hobbies.  For example, one of the services that we offer through our Technical Director, Adam, is Audio Visual Services for different uses and in the summer we’re involved with Creation Festivals.  At Creation Fest Adam helps with the Stage Building, Stage Crew, and many other things related to the production end of the festival.  EXCELLENT experience and we don’t have to pay for it, they want volunteers to help out – almost all of the festival is run by volunteer staff actually.  That’s a work related example, but if you’d rather leave work at work then why not get involved with a local sports team as a coach?  Or see if you can help out a local arts organization?  The opportunities are endless!

Now the on-the-job experience you gain is one thing, but what about if you need different certifications for a job you’re trying to get?  Or even just something you want to have personally.  I’ve talked with many people that are part of different volunteer organizations, such as different volunteer fire departments in some US cities, or other organizations needing specific training and there are many organizations that will pay for your training if you’re an active volunteer.  So not only are you already gaining great experience just volunteering for them, but they help you keep your different certifications up to date, or send you on specific training, etc.  Or it could even simply be getting you to use a new piece of software that you haven’t had the opportunity or excuse to before and giving you work experience with that.  The amount that you can learn is amazing.

So the next time you find yourself sitting on the couch yet again watching another prime time television show, why not check out and see how you could get involved with your community?  You never know what you could find!

Social Media – Not a Replacement for Real Life Connections!

July 10, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in Networking, Social Media

We had a great open discussion this morning at my weekly networking group about social media, and many other topics too.  But one thing that came up was how impersonal Social Media can feel and how some people in the group did not like it because of that.  The discussion really reminded me of how important it is to make sure that you connect with people beyond online.

A great example was given this morning, think about the online dating sites.  There’s lots of people on their with different profiles saying all kinds of things that they do and how amazing they are, but do you really know someone after just seeing some pictures online and communicating through written text?  Absolutely not!  We’ve all heard how low of a percentage just words are for communication, the majority of communication is through both intonation and body language – things one can only get when really connecting with the live person!

Perhaps this is a total re-think of social media for you, perhaps not.  But one should not consider Social Media as the sole point of contact with someone, but as a great way to either stay connected with someone you meet or be introduced to someone you should meet.  It should enhance a personal relationship, not replace it.  Think of it as a great networking tool.  All the new followers, “likes”, friends, etc that you haven’t met in person are new people that you could get together with for coffee and get to know better, who knows maybe they could be a great referral source!

So the next time you’re updating your Facebook status, or getting ready to Tweet about your day, why not invite your followers to connect with you in person?  I know I always like putting faces to names – and I mean the 3D version, not just their profile photo!

You’re the Expert at What You Do!

June 27, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in Marketing, Networking

One of the biggest lessons that I had to learn as a business owner is that I am an expert.  This by all means does not mean I know everything about my field, far from it, but I know more than the average person, thus, I am an expert.  As dictionary.com puts it, an expert is “a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field”.  It’s not saying I know everything just that I have skill and knowledge.

Okay so sure, I’m an expert.  So what?  What does that get me and why is that important?  A couple of reasons.  If I tell someone I’m an expert at what I do, or if someone refers me to someone they know as an expert at what I do, it holds some weight.  People naturally put more faith in an expert versus someone that just does a task.  It can give you some natural credibility in their eyes.

I would have to say though that the reason that I found being deemed an expert to be such a powerful thing is what it did to my mentality as a business owner and professional.  Once I had enough people tell me that I truly was an expert at what I do and that I should claim it personally, I had so much more confidence.  I now had a right to step up at networking events and speak with conviction about what I do, because I really did know what I was talking about.  I also found after the step of having some people tell me I was an expert the confidence became visible, people started to also tell me that they could see the confidence.

Think about what you do professionally.  What about your job do you love and really thrive on?  If you really love it then you’re probably also good at it, or worded differently, you’re skilled at it and you have knowledge about it.  Remembering our definition above that means YOU are an expert.  So I challenge you: CLAIM IT!  Own the fact that you’re an expert, now don’t let it get to your head in an “I’m better than you” sort of way, but have confidence in it as a “I can help you with it” type of thing.  If you claim your “expert-ness” you will see your confidence grow!

Success Tip – Take Time for You!

June 20, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in General, Marketing, Networking

One thing that I hear all the time from business people is how busy they are.  Almost like how many hours you work equates with how successful you are as a business person.  I mean, you must be pretty important if your work world would fall apart if you didn’t work an 80 hour week, right?  I have different views!  I would say you must be pretty important if you can make the same amount of money and work only 20 or 30 hours a week – seems much more valuable to me, or at least you’re making more per hour!  But really though, when did the shift go to spending tons of time at work instead of taking time to enjoy life being success?

I think one of the biggest signs of success for a business person is a business person that can love their job and still be loved by their family and friends – and that certainly doesn’t come by spending all your time at work and none at play!  Your friends and family will cease to be that (well, your family may still be your family officially, but them may not appreciate you!) if you don’t spend any time with them.  People are always talking about living a balanced life, I’m not sure how much that exists honestly, but I think one can live a more satisfying life by making sure they have leisure time outside of work.

So the next time you get to send in that proposal for another contract, or set a deadline for a project at work, make sure you really think about it.  Are you giving yourself enough time in a “normal” 40 hour work week or would you have to work double that in order to meet your deadline?  Make sure you schedule in some family and friends time into your work schedule – even if you literally have to block it into your calendar!

Branding – More than just your Logo

June 13, 2012 | By Anna Kouwenberg Posted in Branding

When I’m out networking and doing my “elevator pitch” one of the things that I mention that I do to explain graphic and website design more is branding.  What tends to come to most people’s minds when I say that is, “Oh, okay, she designs logos” – but it’s so much more than that!  One thing that’s really important when designing is to develop your brand – a look, feel, colours, even a font that you use universally throughout all of your points of contact with your clients.

A few ways that we have done this are shown here in a screen shot of our website, and a picture of our brochure and business card:

ARK Squared Website ScreenshotARK Squared Brochure & Business Card

We’ve used the same cube for our logo, font throughout logo and content, and we’ve kept the same colour scheme as well.  We’ve also used the cube from our logo as a backdrop on all three pieces as well.  By doing these type of things people viewing our different pieces know they all go together.  It’s a very simple way of looking very professional.  By integrating all of your marketing pieces with the same look and feel through the use of colours, text and basic layout you tie all of your pieces together.

If you really think about it this is something that a lot of big brands do.  Think about Coca-Cola for example.  They have red and white as their colours and combine that with fizzy-bubbles and their logo on all pieces that represent them.  From the trucks you see driving around delivering their products, to their cover photo on their facebook page, all the way to the can you drink out of – all of their points of contact with their consumers look the same.

How about your branding?  Are you sending a professional, consistent message to your clients?  If not let us know, we’d love to help.  As we say, “we help you put your best foot forward visually”.  So the next time that you meet a graphic designer that says they do branding know that it’s more than just a logo!  But also check them out – when they design are they making sure to have a universal look throughout all different points of contact?  If not it might be best to see someone new!

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