Do you have a website? (If you do not, you REALLY need one).

Does your website have your social links? Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (and many others)

Did you know you could link your Facebook to Twitter so that way when you post on FB it will automatically post on Twitter. Getting connected with your social media will save you time and help you spread your marketing efforts across more channels.

Today websites should be fresh, easy to navigate and easy to operate. Many developers and designers are flocking towards Word Press.

A few weeks ago I attended SD Word Camp and have to say it was a very impressive mixed group of techies, yes I am a techie too!

The common theme for The Word Press Community…Help One Another and Help Grow Word Press. There are numerous tools, widgets, plugins to

build a great looking and great functioning website.

Word Press sites range from free to thousands and depending on your company needs we can build the right site to fit your growing company and brand!

!. Simple – easy to recognize & iconic.

2. Leave a lasting impression- Make it memorable and simple, people will remember it.

3. Make it Timeless – a great way to get your creative ideas going. Review logos over the past 10, 20, 30 years that stand out. The YMCA recently re-branded and refreshed their logo…they did a great job.

4. Design it to be versatile - Example with YMCA, this is great use of versatility with color. Yet it is iconic and can stand alone in black. Think about where your logo will go; online, offline, print, products, clothing, and many more places.

5. Your logo needs to fit your business/your brand. It is important to have designs that fit your appropriate product or service message. When working on the design process the more clear you can be the better.

Whether you are thinking about starting a business or needing to refresh your brand…our team is here to help you with all your design needs.

Long before Facebook and social media sharing, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story in 2003. What started out as a film-making adventure became much more when Jason, Laren, and Bobby stumbled upon Africa’s longest-running war, a conflict where children were both the weapons and the victims. They produced the documentary Invisible Children: Rough Cut in 2005.

At first the film was shown to only friends and family, but it wasn’t long before millions of people had seen the documentary and knew about these “invisible children.”  It was 2006 when I saw the first Invisible Children film, a co-worker shared the video and asked that we share it with others. The story these young men were able to share opened our eyes to what we do not see here in the U.S. This region has faced one of the longest running conflicts on the continent and it’s estimated that 90% of the Lord’s Resistance Army’s troops were taken as children. These young soldiers have been drugged, brutalized and brainwashed at such early ages many of them do not know of a way out of the LRA.

Over the past nine years Invisible Children has made a visible impact in Africa as well as the U.S. They have developed initiatives that address the need for quality education, mentorship, the redevelopment of schools, and financial stability. In areas where the LRA is still active, they focus on civilian protection and rehabilitation. In the United States they focus on advocacy and inspiring America’s youth to “do more than just watch.”

The founders of Invisible Children  believe that by uniting our voices we can use the systems, influence, and resources of the United States to expedite an end to the horrifying conflict. This past week, March 5th Invisible Children  released one of the most profound and inspiring documentaries, KONY2012. The 30 minute documentary has exploded over social media with well over 40 million views in the first week on video channels YouTube & Vimeo. My 15 year-old-son came home from school Tuesday and asked, “Mom who is Kony? He is all over my Facebook.”  We sat down and together watched the video and openly talked about the film, the movement and how we can help by raising awareness together.

Kony 2012 has proven the power of social media and how charities will diversify their efforts to become more visible online. To learn more visit www.invisiblechildren.com.

Watch the Kony 2012 video below.

A few years ago I was consulting and working with a company that wanted to launch blog sites. They were focused on network marketing and soon realized this was a much larger market. The only thing was they focused on pigeon holing and making all sites look and feel the same. It was only a matter of months that Word Press was launching site after site with new designs, widgets and plugins that would allow for more creative and functions within the website.

Word Press has exploded! So many companies are building WP sites. The best part of WP sites. The back office admin panel. If you own a business. Do you have a web programmer? An IT person? A graphic designer? Or what about a full time PR team? Most people do not.

Most of the time, depending on the size of the company, one or two people wearing multiple hats trying to grow their website, their social media and their brand.

Word Press offers more front and back end capabilities that we believe this is the future of integrated multimedia websites. People still do not understand the power of WP. Check out these numbers and understand it’s only going up!

70,611,349 WordPress Sites in the World and growing!

If you want to learn more how you can convert your website into a WP site and how we can help you with a brand lift. Feel free to email or call us today to learn more.

Where is Your Social Marketing Growing?

Will Facebook reach 1 billion this year?

It still amazes me less than 5 years ago many of us joined only to find a few friends here and there. We would check maybe once a week or sometimes let weeks go by before logging in. Fast forward to 2012…and the conversation has exploded! We are connecting though personal relationships, sharing our challenges and triumphs, spreading good news in real time and experiencing a social revolution. We join Fan Pages to support the brands we like and love and are seeing businesses go from start up to some becoming global phenomenons.
This year we will see more and more businesses taking their websites and integrating them into their fan pages. They will focus to drive more traffic to their fan pages. Why some may ask? Because we are moving more into “Engaging Marketing.” Facebook has one of the greatest platforms available and those that embrace will have great opportunity to grow.