bill schick design

Bill Schick Design Launches New Logo and Web Site for Azuki Systems

2008-06-04T06:26:00.001-07:00

Two months ago we were hired by senior marketing management at Peermeta to create an identity / logo and web site for a new company, Azuki Systems. Azuki is headed by Chairman and Co-Founder Cheng Wu and President and CEO Jim Ricotta, two well-known internet entrepreneurs with combined 45 years experience setting up and selling internet-based companies. Between the two of them, they have sold internet startups for a combined total of nearly $7 Billion.

Their latest venture, Azuki Systems, is based on delivering personalized, snackable media. Bill Schick Design was the ideal design and marketing partner on this project, because of our unique focus on delivering personalized design and marketing solutions. In addition to creative marketing and design solutions, we provide dynamic Adobe Flash integration with purl programs—a solution that is rapidly growing in demand among marketers looking to engage their customers across various marketing channels.

Azuki was launched on June 3, 2008 with much fanfare, including being featured on NECN.

Integrated Marketing and Design Studio Launches New Site and Opens Its Doors In Downtown Nashua

2008-04-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Integrated Marketing and Design Firm, Bill Schick Design, LLC, Launched it's new web site www.billschickdesign.com, and open the doors of its new offices in downtown Nashua, NH in Q1, 2008. The new site showcases the firm's unique, comprehensive marketing and design services with robust service descriptions, overviews of the team, and over 150 portfolio samples of work completed. Samples include web site design, integrated marketing campaigns (purls), logo design, and brochure design.

In addition, the two-year-old company has opened its first offices in downtown Nashua. The new space is located at 92 Main Street, and includes 1,000 square feet of work space.

She's Just riding a Skate Board

2007-06-27T09:04:00.001-07:00

This is just ridiculous. What's next? Stop being sheep and get active.

Law Enforcement Going Too Far. Again.

Thomas and Friends Toy Train Recall

2007-06-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

As a parent of a 4 year old boy, I have been sucked into the Thomas and Friends frenzy. My son has the Thomas table, with the wooden trains—more trains than i thought could be had. He also has the "Take Along Thomas" set... with even more trains. And God-forbid we have one train for the wooden set and not for the Take Along set.

Anyone who has a child who loves Thomas (and what child isn't attracted to his cheekiness?) knows that these trains don't come cheaply. They are so well marketed as classic, high-quality British toys, that we only grumble a little bit at the $20/train price tag. We know that only the finest craftsmen and women painstakingly create each little wooden train with tenderness and love for our children.

Not.

I learned today that the wonderfully crafted trains are not built in the U.S. or in Britain (do they actually manufacture anything there—or here for that matter?)—but that these EXPENSIVE trains are made in CHINA.

Now I know most of what we buy is made in China. And I get it. Labor's cheap there—so we can get cheap goods here. But if you're going to make something cheaply, then pass along the savings to me. I always assumed that the $20 train price tag carried with it the assurance that some child wasn't sweating away at slave wages to make this train. And who knows? Perhaps the people making these trains in China are getting top dollar there. But I'm pretty sure that there's a nice, hefty mark up on these trains.

There's another reason to be bugged. And this is the only reason I found out these pricey little tank engines were made in China—the recall on some engines that made with lead paint. LEAD PAINT. According to wikipedia, "lead is extremely toxic to living organisms…" and "It is especially dangerous to children under age six whose bodies are still developing. Lead causes nervous system damage, hearing loss, stunted growth, reduced IQ, and delayed development. It can cause kidney damage. Lead affects every organ system of the body."

When was the last time you saw a child put a Thomas Train in their mouth? The US banned lead paint in 1978 for residential use. Thirty years later China is making toys with it??? Toys that target young boys and girls ages 3 - ???

This is ridiculous. For $20 a train, I want these trains made somewhere with good working conditions, good pay, and civil rights. While that probably isn't the US right now, there are plenty of other countries with better track records. And we do have plenty of skilled people to craft these energetic engines, and government oversight to (generally speaking) make sure our toys aren't poisonous.

What to do? I am weak. He loves the trains. So we limit the purchases, and mostly buy when they're on sale—which they are every couple of weeks at AC Moore. The sales are usually 40% off—so we know there's plenty of mark up. I'm not certain a boycott would work... how do you explain a boycott to a 4 year old? If you have an answer, post it below. I'd love to hear about it.

pURLs for Printers

2007-05-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

Even if you don't offer pURLs (personal url) through your printing business—you can still benefit from them as a marketing tool. If you're in sales and marketing for a printing company, you know that response rates to your direct mail programs generally generate abysmal response. We understand that as well—we've been on all three sides of that equation: we've worked for printers, marketed printers, and been on the receiving end of their marketing. So we have a unique perspective when it comes to marketing for printing companies.

Using this experience, we recently created a pURL marketing campaign for a regional printing company. Response rates have been incredible—7%! And this includes approximately 30 brand new leads with companies that had never heard of the printer before, who are interested in working with them.

If you're looking to boost printing sales, and need a new way to do it, consider pURLs.

pURLs Article Featured in Fund Raising Success

2007-05-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

Recently we were interviewed for an article in Fund Raising Success regarding pURLs. You can read that article here: http://www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com/story/story.bsp?sid=53322&var=story

pURLS and Flash increasing interest and engagement

2007-04-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

In an effort to further add value to an already amazing platform, Bill Schick Design, LLC has developed a unique and exclusive methodology to create dynamic Flash applications for use with pURL programs. pURL programs are personalized URLs that work together with direct mail programs to boost response. Incorporating Flash in these programs furthers the dynamic quality, potentially increase response rates. The few other companies offering pURLs are just scratching the surface of these programs and are not even looking at adding Flash, let alone dynamic Flash.

We've been creating dynamic direct marketing campaigns for 10 years, and over a year ago added pURLs to our programs, seeing dynamic response lifts and reduction in cost for our clients. By incorporating not just Flash—but dynamic Flash, we add further value to our clients' programs. We see a lift in response rates by incorporating user information in html pages, and by embedding their information dynamically in their Flash animations, the programs are that much more engaging.

For example, another pURL program might offer only customizable text content within their purl program, adding a stand alone static Flash introduction as a "value add". But those offerings are separate and reduce the effectiveness of the campaign. The whole point of having a dynamic pURL is PERSONALIZATION. And if every aspect of the program isn't personalized, then effectiveness is comprimised. We've worked directly with the leader in purl programs—MindFireInc.com—to create a dynamic way to incorporate the user data the drives the dynamic portions of the pURL sites into Flash animations on the fly. Where other pURL programs only offer the ability to incorporate the content in static html in the web pages, we can now embed the data directly in the flash file, allow us to animate and further engage prospects in the program.

For more information of pURL programs, dynamic Flash, and giving your direct marketing programs a boost, contact Bill Schick Design.

Venom from Spiderman 3

2007-03-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

This 7 minute preview for Spiderman 3 on NBC was just too cool. And for the first time we get to see the symbiot costume—or half of Venom. Very, very cool.

The hardest part of selling 1.5

2007-02-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

I JUST posted my comments on the hardest part of selling (for me anyway), and I was reviewing some news over the weekend and noticed this banner advertisement for the BlackBerry Pearl (I'm always looking at what the "big" companies are doing). Now, it's a neat ad, but I have a problem with the message, and it's not helping me build trust in the phone.

Let's start off with this premise: Stylish is Subjective. What I think is stylish is different from what my father thinks is stylish is different from what my brother thinks is style is different... you get the picture.

So I saw this ad, and saw "Small, Smart and Stylish." I'll ignore that since Apple announced the iPhone I've looked at "smart phones" differently and focus on the Stylish. I am a firm believer that you can't tell me something is stylish. You communicate that in other ways—through slick advertising, showing people I want to be using the product, or wearing the clothes. If a stranger walks up to you and says, "these pants are stylish, buy them," your first reaction is... ?

Same thing with this ad. I understand they needed a word to make the alliteration work, but in this case, I think the writing technique is getting in the way of the device. And if they needed another "s" word, why not something like sophisticated or even...

sublime.

What is the hardest part of selling your service to a new client?

2007-02-13T19:04:00.000-08:00

Do you think it's getting them to understand the value? Or getting past the price?

Recently I've been thrust into a major sales role for my design and marketing studio. Not intentionally—but almost by mistake. I'm a designer and marketer at heart. I enjoy the creative process and coming up with ways to help our clients achieve their business goals through graphic design and marketing solutions. And in the past, we might have received 1 or 2 new inquiries from our web site a month. Not a ton, but coupled with referrals, this kept us reasonably busy—and I was able to balance the creative process with the sales side of the business.

So recently I was talking to a friend in the business, and we were talking about generating leads, and I mentioned that we had 11 leads in the last 2 weeks from our site. While impressed, he focused on the sales aspect of the process and asked how I was doing converting those to sales, and what the hardest part of the process was.

I had to think for only a moment before answering.

When a client is looking for creative—or any service—without the benefit of a referral, they don't have the benefit of the input of a friend, family member or associate. Often times, they only have some form of marketing material to go from—a web site, a direct mail or purl, or a brochure. They are immediately on guard against clichéd marketing statements and hyperbole. If you are then able to get a sales meeting with the prospect, they are further on guard for classic sales techniques. So what is the hardest part of the sales process?

Building trust. People would rather buy a down to earth—realistically presented product from someone they trust than a pie in the sky solution from someone they don't. For example, our studio (which is relatively small) beat out a larger, more established Manchester-based studio for a good-sized branding project. When I asked why we earned the business, the owner said, "You came in, you convinced me you understood what we needed to do, presented some real solutions, and you earned my trust. That other company came in, made some vague statements, demanded a high retainer, and didn't have a single suggestion. Your studio may be smaller—but I felt I could trust my business to you."

So most important than selling your services—get them to trust you. And really earn it, don't just use it as schtick.

How can you build trust in marketing materials?

I've seen people with great services and products throw "marketing babble" into their materials because "everyone else does it this way." Well, we now recognize these for what they are—empty words. You can tell someone you're "the best"—"the premiere"—"the most professional"—"state-of-the-art" whatever-your-service-is around, and it means nothing to a prospect. YOU don't buy that garbage, why should your customers?

You can't tell prospects to trust you, it's a feeling they get over time. And you can't tell them to "trust you" in your materials, no matter how reliable, professional or trustworthy you are, they're not going to believe it. Your best bet is to get someone else to tell your prospect how they trusted you with their investment, project or business, and how you succeeded in delivering. And since you can't have every prospect the phone number of your best client, you need to get that another way.

Here are the ways I use, and I have my clients use to build that trust:

• Quotes attributed to a specific person
• Case studies with real companies
• Photos
• Testimonials
• Letters of recommendation

If you do a great job, and deliver more than you promised, you should have no problem at the end of a project asking for any or all of these.

Why does this work? Ask yourself what's my best source of work? I bet most of you think "referrals". And that's what ALL of my clients tell me. And all these five things I've listed are are referrals. They're always available, they don't fade, and they tell a story—the story of how one person somewhere else trusted you to work for or with them, and how you delivered.

So, earn your prospects trust—legitimately—and you have a really good shot at earning their business.

When Creatives Go Bad.

2007-01-31T19:25:00.000-08:00

Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston recently made this statement, "Two to five for each of them." He was talking jail time, but who is he talking about? Drug dealers? Spouse abusers? Bush and Cheney? Terrorists?

Nope.

According to a Bloomberg article, Boston had to close a number of it's bridges and evacuate a hospital building—not because of a terrorist threat—but because of a marketing campaign gone wrong. Cartoon Network's marketing folks thought it would be brilliant to leave a number of suspicious packages at key points in the city—as part of an effort to market Aqua Teen Hunger Force. These devices were part of an outdoor marketing campaign and put up in a number of other cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.

Now, as a marketer, I'm willing to go all out for my clients. Creative concepts, late nights, and hoops galore... but I draw the line at a jail time. Lesson to be learned—be innovative and get attention with your marketing programs, but use common sense, avoid causing panic and try to avoid programs that result in nearly shutting down a city.

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Nearly Free Advertising in Nashua Telegraph

2007-01-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Nashua Telegraph in any way. I'm in the business of helping other businesses increase qualified leads and business, and here's an inexpensive and easy way I've found.

I moved a couple of years back from a 'burb of Boston to Nashua, New Hampshire. Being originally from Vermont, Nashua appealed to me because it is a nice halfway point between my folks who still lived in Vermont, and friends who lived in and around Boston. It was also a good move business-wise. I could still provide great marketing and design services to my Massachusetts customers—while the business owners here in Nashua have been wonderfully receptive.

I'd been looking for a way to promote my design studio in the area. As with all of my clients' campaigns, the one I created for my studio was multipronged: I wanted to increase search engine rankings, do some network marketing, conduct a direct mail campaign, and advertise in the local paper: The Nashua Telegraph. Now I didn't expect to get much—if any—work from my ad in the paper. I just wanted to start generating awareness of the business, so that when a prospect received my direct mail, did a search and found my web site, or met me out some where, they had at least a tickle of familiarity with the name of the studio.

So I looked at just plain advertising in the paper and guess what... of course it's expensive! For a small studio like ours, running advertising every week in the paper just for exposure... is pricey. I've also found a number of our clients feel the same way. They want to generate attention for their business, but they can't afford to dump hundreds of dollars a month into a newspaper ad campaign. And they realize there is extreme value in exposure that might come from such an ad.

So I dug a little deeper, and found that the Telegraph has a nice little insert in EVERY sunday paper. It features companies that are listed in the Telegraph online business directory. Listing in the directory is only $35 a month. This MIGHT seem like a LOT until you do the math.

First, an ad in the normal part of the paper is probably going to be designed by the newspaper design staff. Because they're just jamming out ads, all the ads tend to look the same and blend together. Case in point—see a recent Valentine's day issue. There's a page that is a sea of red. All the ads look the same. A business that ran a black and white ad on that page would have doubled their sales. That black and white ad would have jumped off the page. So if your ad doesn't stand out, it won't be seen or acted upon. (Always design your own ad or work with a studio that has experience in newspaper advertising—there's a reason newspapers design ads for free)

Second, a heck of a lot more folks read the Sunday paper.

Third, the Telegraph isn't a HUGE paper, but it's big enough that your ad might not be seen by the person you're trying to connect with.

Fourth, there's no online component with regular newspaper advertising. You create an expensive ad, and there's nothing online to support it.

Fifth, to run a decent ad that's going to get attention, you have to budget at least $400 a month.

All that said, newspaper advertising sounds like a tactic for just large companies with money to burn. Not true. With the online listing, you get listed on the Telegraph's web site directory, and you get a small ad in a special insert in the paper. This is BETTER than just running an ad in the regular edition. Why?

First, a heck of a lot of people read the sunday paper.

Second, few people have utilized this amazing service. When I started using it, I was one of about 20 advertisers.

Third, the insert is just that—an insert that sticks out. A couple of times they've printed it on heavy stock, which really helps it poke out from the normal paper.

Fourth, there's an online component. Search engines look at the referring site's ranking when determining how relevant your site is. Trust me, the Telegraph IS RELEVANT. By getting a link on their site, you're telling Google that your content is relevant. That's worth the $35 right there.

FIfth, it's only $35 a month. You probably spend more on coffee.

A couple of notes: the ads are small... about the size of a business card. More companies are signing up every day, slowly whittling away at it's exclusivity. There are a lot of real estate listings, so if that's your gig, I'm not sure that this is for you.

How has it worked for me? Well... I ran the ad for about 8 months. In that time I only received ONE project directly from it, but numerous people who've become clients have referred back to it. And it's hard to measure the impact of the link on my site, but I know it's helping. So I ran the ad for 8 months at $35 a month. The project I got out of it was worth around $10,000. I feel that's a reasonable return on investment—and it fits right in with my cross media strategy.

If you're looking at advertising in the paper, and have a web site, but feel that it's a little too pricey, give the web site directory a spin.

Logo Design in New Hamphire

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Secure Email Solutions

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pURL Campaign

2007-01-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

Bill Schick Design recently conducted it's own pURL program. We've been doing them for clients, and thought we'd run our own in the Nashua area. Understand—design studios, especially small ones like ours—don't do a ton of direct mail marketing. So we focused on marketing direct marketing—and pURLs specifically. We sent out the mailer to 200 of the 1,000 members of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce who we thought would get some benefit out of pURLS, and who we wanted as a client.

We HOPED for a response rate of 2%, since the industry standard is about 1.8%. That would have netted us 4 leads. If we were lucky, we would be able to convert one of those into a new client.

That program ran 2 months ago. We're STILL getting responses, and currently we've received 23 COMPLETE responses. That's over 10% response rate. We'll update here when we close the program and provide stats on the program, including how many people started the program and didn't complete. And so far, we've converted 3 of those to paying customers, and we're working on 5 more.

Bill Schick Design, LLC is a graphic and web design studio with a focus on our clients' larger business and marketing goals. Some Design Firms TARGET Your Business. We Help You BUILD It.

Logo Design in New Hamphire

Dog Training in New Hampshire

Direct mail in New Hampshire

Secure Email Solutions

Graphic Design in New Hampshire

Construction Recruiting

Web design in New Hamphire

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Critical Thinking

Ergonomic Consulting

When It Comes to Your Logo and Brand, Trust in Yourself and Ask A Stranger

2007-01-01T13:41:00.000-08:00

Huh?

Let me explain. We have a client now, Advanced Combustion Technologies, Inc. When we were hired to redesign their logo, web site, direct mail and sales collateral the client had a very solid idea of what their core business was. According to them, they designed and developed combustion systems for power plants. Now, in our current environment of ... well... environmental awareness... this idea had a slightly negative spin. This was reinforced by a logo that was slightly different on all marketing pieces, and a red and black color scheme that the client told us reflected their "red and black/fire and coal" target market. They were wondering why they were having trouble breaking into new markets.

After some discussion with their marketing team and senior management, and some research of our own, we found a key piece of information. ACT doesn't just develop components for power plants. They develop systems that help power plants reduce emissions by 85%.

Wow.

You don't get a bit of marketing information like that every day. To their credit, this information was in their marketing materials, but it was buried in poor presentation, harsh red and black colors, and only to be found somewhere under product specs.

We helped ACT develop an image that more accurately reflects what they do, their colors are now green and grey. Their new logo is a combination of technology and airflow, and all of their materials reflect this new look. To quote the client, "response to our new look has been amazing."

So, when developing your logo, look inside to the people who know the business, and look outside, to people who don't. Partner them up so that you can utilize both sets of strengths, and you're sure to get a logo that will really help you communicate.

Logo Design in New Hamphire

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Combine Graphic Design with pURLs for Amazing Response

2007-01-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

In a society buried in advertising for Wiis, iPods and the next high-tech gadget, and hot news topics like Saddam Hussein's execution, and the "New" European Union, we as marketers and advertisers are constantly seeking ways to get through the clutter and appeal to our audience—and get our message heard.

Well, we've found a way that helps businesses get the attention of their customers, and get them to respond to direct mail programs. This isn't marketing hype. Recently we've achieved 16% response with a direct marketing program, helped one client to double sales, and helped another generate $3 Million in sales leads. How?

A number of years ago Bill Schick Design, LLC started out doing Logo Design & Branding , Marketing & Direct Mail and Web Design & Interactive Communications for clients. But we approached it as a lot of design firms still do—each project as a separate entity and not taking a step back and looking at the big picture—or the larger business goals of our clients. Along the way, we realized that there was huge value to clients in providing a soup to nuts design and marketing solution, and we sought a way to really tie quality direct mail campaigns to internet presences—not just to build brands, but to increase response and ROI.

Since all of our direct mail programs are based on sound design and marketing—we started as a graphic design studio—that part was easy to continue. The hard part was integrating sound design with an online system that really achieved substantial benefit. It's one thing to put a form on your web site for recipients to fill out their information. But how do you track ROI? How do you know how many people visited but left before completing the process?

We found that by incorporating personalized URLs (pURLs), we were able to help clients (and ourselves) track programs better, more people responded, and we had more control over the programs. With pURLs every direct mail piece is personalized to the recipient, and the response mechanism is an online form where every step is tracked—allowing our clients to tweak their program and generate detailed ROI reports. With 30 to 50% of people wanting to respond to direct mail offers on-line it's a no-brainer. For some B2B clients, we're considering eliminating conventional reply card response. People live on-line these days, and who has 2 weeks to wait for a BRC response?

Here's an example of one success story. One client of ours, GlobalCerts, is an email security and encryption firm. Last year they produced a direct mail campaign in-house that generated literally—not statistically—0 response. They contacted us this summer to create a direct mail campaign using pURLS. We worked with GlobalCerts to target the right decision makers, develop the right message for 4 vertical markets, design creative that really spoke to each market, and design pieces that were customized to each recipient. We developed an offer that couldn't be refused, and put in place the personalized URLs and response mechanism. This was all completed in about a month. The program ran, and within 4 weeks, we had generated significant improvements in response over last year—the client had $3 Million in leads.

By coupling sound graphic design with a cutting edge technology to personalize direct mail programs, we're able to break through the clutter of conventional marketing programs and track the results of our programs and ROI. This helps our clients market smarter and faster.

Bill Schick Design, LLC is a graphic and web design studio with a focus on our clients' larger business and marketing goals. Some Design Firms TARGET Your Business. We Help You BUILD It.

Logo Design in New Hamphire

Dog Training in New Hampshire

Direct mail in New Hampshire

Secure Email Solutions

Graphic Design in New Hampshire

Construction Recruiting

Web design in New Hamphire

Dog Friendly Lawn Care

Critical Thinking

Ergonomic Consulting

pURLS: Small Businesses Net Big Results Combining Direct Mail and On Line Response

2006-11-15T11:43:00.000-08:00

30 - 50% of your prospects prefer to respond to you offer online, so why aren't you giving them that channel?

Think about how our society has changed. We live and work on line. We email, find jobs, play games, search for facts (and fiction), and even significant (and not-so-significant) others on line. We socialize, politicize, and and any other "ize" you can think of on millions of web sites every day. Our society lives on line—especially those who consume professional services.

By living and working on line, we have further developed the "right now" syndrome. Have you recently found yourself purchasing something from a business because they can get it to you "right now"? Where in this system is there a place for a tear out card, a hand-written response, and SNAIL mail?

Well, plenty of folks are still responding to direct mail using... mail. But guess what? What about the 30 - 50% who want to respond on line. Who wants to tear out a card, write out their info, and put something in the mail—hoping it reaches someone sometime in the next week or so?

Give them an option to respond IMMEDIATELY. Send them to a web site you've developed just for them. Direct them to log in securely so they feel protected. Present your response mechanism in a manner that fits in with the "right now" syndrome—the whole process can take less than a minute. Confirm their contact information, follow up with an automated confirmation email, and redirect them to your corporate site. Then follow up with an immediate phone call from your or your reps (you've got a better chance of closing a sale within an hour of the response).

The benefit to the recipient is clear—they get the peace of mind that their response took a minute, and it has made it through. But what is the benefit to you? First, results show that response rates and conversion rates are higher. But that's just scratching the surface. By putting the response online, you can track the activity of the prospect. Did they complete the questionnaire? Did they go through the whole site? Or were they turned off by the landing page? These are all things you can now track through on line tools.

By uniting your marketing program under one umbrella, you achieve unprecedented power to manage your programs, track the results, and respond to areas that could made stronger—all within your budget as a small or medium-sized business.

Sound impossible? Larger companies like T.G.I. Friday's, Sonic Drive-In, Brookstone and others have been doing it for a couple of years now (no they are NOT clients of ours, but they have used the same technology), and it is just breaking into smaller and medium-sized markets. You no longer need a giant marketing budget to get giant returns.

If you need to track the response to your direct mail program, if you're not providing your prospects a means of responding to your direct mail program on line, and if you're not satisfied with 1.6% response rates, learn more about pURL programs, and what they can do to make you a marketing guru.

Bill Schick Design, LLC

Logo Design in New Hamphire

Dog Training in New Hampshire

Direct mail in New Hampshire

Secure Email Solutions

Graphic Design in New Hampshire

Construction Recruiting

Web design in New Hamphire

Dog Friendly Lawn Care

Critical Thinking

Ergonomic Consulting

If A Good Response to Direct Marketing is 2%, How Did We Help A Client Get 16%?

2006-07-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

How many times have you looked at the average response to a direct marketing campaign (about 2%) and thought, "wow. if I could only get 3%... or 5%..."

I was doing the same thing. My objective was to get the word out about a client of bill schick design, llc: Landmark Impressions, a regional high-speed digital printing company. The company was about to move locations, and wanted to further increase awareness of their brand and services, alert existing clients to their new location, and minimize attrition that often follows a move.

To do this, we looked at the audience (existing customers), their location (Woburn/Burlington, MA area), and the message: "we're moving, we want you to notice, and keep doing business with us."

So we thought, "what would get the attention of people in the area, in a way that will also reward them for their business?"

The answer was this: we offered a pair of free tickets to an upcoming game with the Red Sox. The catch was that we provided some key details on the move, and the audience had to locate the information, answer three questions regarding it, and either send the card back with the answers or go the web site and fill out the answers there. If they answered the questions correctly, they were entered into the drawing.

Now there are a couple of things to look at here. First, you're probably thinking, "well who wouldn't want Red Sox tickets, Bill?"

Well, that's the point. If you're going to spend money on a giveaway, GIVE THEM SOMETHING THEY WANT. Don't give Eskimos refrigerators. If Red Sox tickets have become pricey, and your audience likes the Red Sox, and it helps you meet your marketing goals, give away a pair of tickets.

There are a couple of key items here. First, we targeted existing customers. This helped us in that we had a receptive audience who was at least a little interested in what we had to say. Second, one third of people who respond to direct marketing today will do so via the internet. So we provided them with a channel to do so. Third, we gave them something they wanted.

What was the result? Exactly what the company was looking for. Customers now know about the new location, the new services, and they experienced essentially no attrition. In addition, they also received a record amount of traffic on their web site, which showcases other services they provide.

All around, not a bad result.

- Bill

For more information on how Bill Schick Design can help your business achieve higher ROI on direct marketing campaigns, visit http://www.billschickdesign.com, email me at bill@billschickdesign.com, or call me at 617 515 1797.

Logo Design in New Hamphire

Dog Training in New Hampshire

Direct mail in New Hampshire

Secure Email Solutions

Graphic Design in New Hampshire

Construction Recruiting

Web design in New Hamphire

Dog Friendly Lawn Care

Critical Thinking

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Not Your Nephew's Logo

2006-02-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a potential client a couple of months back, a business owner who was about 45, who mistakenly thought he wanted to hire me to design his first web site. The conclusion of our business relationship has caused me to author this particular entry.

He'd been in business for himself for some time, and was ready to make the "leap into the future" with a web site. During our phone call I asked if his business had a logo or established identity, he said, "well of course we have a logo, my nephew designed it."

We spoke for a while longer, and it turned out we just weren't right for each other. He hadn't paid much for his logo (I think it was around $100), and when he learned my rates for design work, he became disgusted and told me his nephew had a computer and could design a logo for a lot less than I would. I wished him luck.

So what am I taking up Blog space to write about? There are a lot of businesses out there that can't afford to pay a professional designer to create their logo. So they find someone they know, someone with "a computer", and have that person "design" a logo. What I'm writing about here is my own personal DON'Ts when having your logo designed. These tips are mostly for those people who can't afford to have me do this work for them, but other people can read as well. One thing you might want to do is examine your own logo design, and see how it compares to this list.

And so... here we go...

1. Stop the swooshes. Enough already. Nike made it cool. Now everyone throws a swoosh on a name, and they call it a logo. It's not original anymore. It means nothing. What makes a logo interesting is exclusivity—no one else has it. Even if you LOVE swooshes... stay away from them.

2. Stop with the blues and the crazy random colors. KISS your colors. Keep It Simple S..... I probably don't even need to say anything here. Keep your colors to one, two or three. More, and your logo will probably be a mess. As far as choosing colors, pull out a color wheel, and find colors that compliment each other. Or go down to home depot and check out their paint chip selection. That is a great source for inspiration. Oh yeah, blue. No more IBM blue logos. Even IBM doesn't use IBM blue anymore. In fact, most great designers design logos to work in black and white first—then create the color. If your logo doesn't wow you in black and white, color isn't going to help.

3. Don't make your logo really complicated. Ideally, if you're using a graphic with your logo, it should be an image that has been stylized or simplified so that most—if not all—the specific detail has been removed. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, complex logos don't burn themselves into your customer's brain. Second, complex logos don't reproduce well at small sizes. Like with your colors, keep it simple, but unique.

4. If you run a rugged mountain tours business, your logo should not look like a bank's. What I mean here is that your logo should reflect your business: what it does, what it's goals are, what it's services are, who it's clients are. Your logo should use type and imagery that reflect your industry and strategic objectives—and should not be limited to whatever clip art and fonts your nephew has on his computer. You wouldn't use a script typeface to describe a rugged, outdoors business, and you wouldn't use a heavy, slab typeface to advertise a local ballet.

5. Do not copy another company's logo. I don't care how much you like it. It's stealing.

6. Do not get a logo for free. You get what you pay for.

7. Do not get a logo designed in 1 day, 2 days, or 3 days unless you're in a rush. And if you're in the much of a rush to get a logo designed, you might want to re-examine your business plan.

8. Do not pay $X99 for a logo. That's not a real price.

9. Do not design your logo by committee. Yes, get feedback from people you respect, and certainly potential customers. Work with your designer to find the right balance of input that will result in the best, most memorable and professional logo for your business.

10. Do not hire someone who says this when you ask if they design logos, "Yeah I design logos, I have all the software on my computer." Good logos aren't designed by computers OR software (I don't care what Bill Gates says). Logos are designed by intelligent, experienced people who've spent time learning about your business, and know the right design tools and techniques to communicate your business through imagery.

11. Do not believe that design is a commodity. Yes, there are many people out their who want to be designers. Do your research.

12. Do not "hire" a relative who will design your logo for free. You'll both be disappointed. You won't get the attention your business deserves, and they won't get paid and will become irritated when you keep calling.

13. Research your designer. Look at their web site and/or portfolio. Ask questions like, "what did you do on this project." I was researching logos on line for $69 (wow, that's a GREAT bargain!!!) and one of the portfolio clients listed for logo design was Microsoft. Well, they MUST be good if Microsoft is a client. The title of the project was "Identity Design". Then I read the description of the project, which you can find here: http://www.thelogoloft.com/microsoft.html

It might just be me, but I didn't see logo or identity design in there anywhere. IT services are NOT the same as marketing services. That's why they're different departments in many companies. Just because you host files, transfer files, and host a web site, does not make you a logo designer.

14. Do not hire a logo designer who has random pictures of beautiful people on their site. They're just there to look pretty. They didn't get a logo designed, and they probably aren't doing the designing.

15. Do not believe that a whole team of designers is working on your logo so that you can have a high quality, custom logo in 24 hours for $69. I don't believe that my law firm (who is going to go ballistic when they find out about the link in #13) has a team of lawyers working on my legal stuff so I can have it in 24 hours for $69. MAYBE for $6,900...

16. Do not believe that your logo is your brand. Your brand is made up of a lot more than a picture. It's every piece of marketing material, presentation, point of contact, service, and really—any and all interaction with your customers that creates your brand. A good logo is a good place to start.

17. Don't hire any design service that advertises "starter" "bronze" "silver" "navel" or "web" packages. When you hire a designer you're getting experience, knowledge, technique, and research. If your designer has to promise you "unlimited" revisions, then they're just throwing **** at the wall and hoping something sticks.

18. If you ever see "custom" and "template" together when used to describe a logo for your business, run.

19. Do not use clip art. Microsoft has a lot of lawyers. They were in Europe for a while, but now they're back. They WILL come after you.

20. Do not assume that a well designed logo doesn't matter. When was the last time you left a web site because it was ugly or looked unprofessional? It's the same with a logo. If someone has 2 choices for a company, many times, the "prettier" one—or the more professional looking one—wins.

Well... that's it for now. There are some I've missed, and I'll add those later on. I'll also probably do one or two "don'ts" for advertising, web site design, direct mail, and other design problems. But for now, I'm off to go make some design mistakes of my own. :)

Bill Schick

Bill Schick Design, LLC
Bill Schick Design, LLC

Logo Design in New Hamphire

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Portfolio: Mini Race Cars As Promo For Medical Device Company

2005-12-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

LeMaitre Vascular, a global medical device manufacturer located in Burlington, Massachusetts, recently asked me to come up with a way to promote their recent achievement: they were ranked in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 in North America. This is an outstanding achievement, and they wanted to means to promote it that reflected "technology" and "fast".

In this case, I not only came up with the message, but the delivery mechanism: a fast mini race car that packs a lot of technology into a small package. As shown in the photos, I branded the car, the remote and the packaging with LeMaitre messaging coupled with that of the Deloitte Fast 500. The company's ranking became the number of the car, and I used NASCAR materials as inspiration for the packaging. I added one final touch to the car: LeMaitre's president has a custom plate for his car that reads "ARTERY". I incorporated this little bit of real life to further tie the car to the company.

In many cases a designer can create a printed piece or an online piece that will be enough to promote an event or milestone. But occasionally, it takes a little something more, and this piece does it.

Nashua Area Angel Pups Dog Training Logo Design

2005-11-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

Bill Schick Design recently relocated from the Boston area to Nashua, New Hampshire. While we still design for existing and new clients in the Boston area, Nashua offers a lot of business and professional resources, as well as a wonderful community and place to raise children.

The Angel Pups logo is my first project for a Nashua area business. Angel Pups will begin providing dog training services to dog owners in the Southern New Hampshire and Northern Massachusetts regions in early 2006. The owner contacted me to design her logo, stationery, brochure, and web site as well as work with her to develop other sales and marketing collateral.

Thank You Ad Designed For Future Technologies

2005-11-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

This is an ad I recently created for Future Technologies, a strong supporter of The New England Center for Children. NECC recently held their 30th Anniversary Gala, and Future Technologies wanted their page in the Gala Program to be unique. Instead of focusing on the company, Brian Colpak, President and CEO, wanted the page to convey a strong thank you to NECC. That message is what drove the design of this page.

Newspaper Ad Designed for CR Estimates

2005-11-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

This is my first post, and am just setting up my account. As I work more with this blogger.com, and begin the redesign over at www.billschickdesign.com, I will start posting new portfolio pieces here.

This small newspaper ad is my most recent work, an ad for a construction estimating service located in Florida, CR Estimates. I designed the layout, wrote the headline and helped edit the body copy. I also designed CR Estimates logo and am working with their developer on designing their site: www.crestimates.com.

Logo Design in New Hamphire

Dog Training in New Hampshire

Direct mail in New Hampshire

Secure Email Solutions

Graphic Design in New Hampshire

Construction Recruiting

Web design in New Hamphire

Dog Friendly Lawn Care

Critical Thinking

Ergonomic Consulting