by Paul Barth | Jul 15, 2019 | Advertising, Branding |
Direct Mail Works, So Why Pay Someone To Fix It? “Direct mail works, so why pay someone to fix it?” It’s a question that we hear from time to time in the advertising business. Usually, its part of a larger conversation about creating a better brand position during a period of growth, a discussion about improving ROI (rate of improvement) for marketing efforts, or perhaps as part of an ongoing print advertising project. Improving your direct mail efforts can certainly increase your customer base and increase business leads, but most companies just end up leaving money on the table because they cannot get the attention of the right person. It’s a leaky faucet problem— small waste adds up and leads to bigger problems. Direct Mail: An Advertising Definition Direct mail is defined as anything which is mailed directly from your business to your audience. As a B2B business, this would be mailing materials directly to another business or the leaders of those groups. A B2C business would send these pieces directly to your customers, or individually through a large list of potential clients. This could be a postcard design letting people know about a new product or service that you have, this could be an invitation to a new event that you’re running, this could be a short letter introducing your business products or services in a great branded envelope, this could be a brochure folder in half in order to meet stringent US postal codes. This could even be a printed catalog (OK granted, there’s not really that many of those going out in the mail these days,...
by Paul Barth | Jun 5, 2018 | Advertising, Graphic Design |
“NC Logos” and Other Broad-Ranging Results The way you search on Google determines the results that you get… so why aren’t you getting great results? You’re not getting great search results because your search terms themselves are too broad. Let me give you an example: “NC logos“. While searching this Google result, you will receive a great deal of information about NC logos, and in fact, you you’ll probably find our company there as well: Generate Design. The reason you’ll find us is because we are a graphic design, advertising and website design company in Raleigh North Carolina. Do we design great logos? We do. Is that what you’re looking for? Well, honestly we hope so. However, if you are trying to find a specific North Carolina logo, if you are trying to find a specific design firm to make your logo, you may find that the results are difficult to find among the clutter of results you’ve received. There are numerous colleges in North Carolina which have specific logos ( none will be shown here, sorry). Even trying to take the two terms to something close, like “Raleigh Logos” will be too vague. You have companies in this area which create those logos, and you have plenty of areas which will sell you items with those logos on them. Trying to wade through all those results to get to the pure gold you want can be tedious. Long Tail Keywords Are Your Friends As a result, most people have resorted to using” long tail keywords” in their Google searches. This means that rather than looking up a short...
by Paul Barth | Jul 8, 2019 | Advertising, Design for Business |
Generate Business Leads with Generate Design. We know the best customer you’ve never met. At Generate Design, we put brands into motion by helping to generate business leads. Let me ask you: who is the right customer for your business, and how can we help get you in touch with them? Its easier than you think. In business, continuing to work with a satisfied customer is smart. Once they’ve experienced the great service you offer, it is relatively cheap and easy to continue with a level of success. However, many times businesses cannot continue to sell what they have over and over and over again to the same customers. In that case, lead generation becomes an incredibly important part of our every day business. However, the question remains: how can you find the best customers for your business? Finding new customers id almost always an expensive process. You might advertise and hope to get them. Based on the type of customer you have, you might put something on the radio in the hopes of gathering their attention. You might market to certain demographics with print or social media, and possibly leave other demographics un-marketed to. Why is it so often hit-or-miss? You know who your best clients are, and you know the target market… But how can you be assured that they are receiving your message? How can you get more prospects? With leads. Lead Generation At Generate Design, we can create a specified list of qualified leads for your business. The list can be tailored to your specific customer base, in sets large and small, specific or general....
by Paul Barth | Jun 21, 2019 | Advertising, Design for Business, Graphic Design |
Generate Design: Begin at the Beginning Tiffany and Paul Barth, owners of Generate Design, arrived in North Carolina in the early 1990’s with a dream to one day own their own design business. But like all things, it wasn’t easy to succeed, and it didn’t happen overnight. With every large undertaking, there’s always a mission, a vision, and a beginning. Read More… Tiffany and Paul met at Iowa State University during their last semester of college, where they both earned their Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design. The two met during their last semester of college, a time when plans for the future, a sharpening of talents, and the pursuit of excellence are always on one’s mind. Their evening class was taught by an industry professional, so every project required the kind of research, listening, deep thinking and graphic design work that would really grab his attention. He ran a design firm in the daytime in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Twice a week, he would drive to Ames, Iowa and teach a blended mix of professional practice, and graphic design— bringing down brutal critiques and uplifting students with pinpoint praises and highly individual encouragement. She Was Going To Be An Award-Winning Graphic Designer A mutual friend introduced the two of them, and working shoulder to should on joint projects they found a rhythm of give and take, pitching their strengths together when needed and each doing their part to achieve success. Paul remembers the projects in that class as though it were yesterday: “There was one memorable project that Tiffany really took us by storm with. We...
by Cindy Li | Jun 5, 2019 | Advertising, Graphic Design |
Pantone’s Color of the Year, 2019, is Living Coral. A daring yet soft color highlighted by Pantone for people to truly recognize. The color of the year is a bold statement shadowing its ever-calming essence. But before we delve deeper, let’s swim around on the surface-level things first. (Pun intended) The color itself can be viewed the way you view other colors—just a shade of pink, or its own color by itself—ordinary. Its value, however, holds onto people through more than shades. When comparing Living Coral and Neon Pink, one gives off an enjoyable aesthetic while the other is blaring and chaotic, yet, they are of the same color classification. You know how some hues are just nice on the eyes and pleasant for the mind? It’s a color that you look at and you feel at peace. A fun, sweet color that feeds the soul. A Subtle Influence? Color is such a vitally important part of Graphic Design, influencing us psychologically, pathologically, and altering our moods in subtle ways. Our thoughts, feelings, and predilections are moved and adjusted based on the colors we perceive. Does Pantone hope to alter our consciousnesses through manipulation of values and virtues? I suppose that depends on what you think the color really says. Living Coral, by its name, refers to the marine animal inhabiting the oceans, providing habitats, protection, balance and biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. The same Aquatic ecosystems that are being consistently damaged by excessive run-off, causing overgrowth in Algae, algal blooms, which are a factor of coral bleaching and organism depletion. Serious issues that on the surface can only be...
by Paul Barth | Jun 16, 2019 | Advertising, Video Production, Web Design |
Video Testimonials: Video Production Do’s & Don’ts Video is the new television. Everyone is watching, everyone is listening, everyone is talking about it. At this moment, video production happens to be clearly separating those who are doing it right from those who are clearly just trying to put something into space to check off a box. A business who shows not only what their products and services can do, but how it affects their customers directly, stands a great chance of making a strong connection with their customers and clients. But what is stopping many people from bridging the gap between a job done, and a job done WELL? Experience is only part of the puzzle. In this article we discuss the ins and outs, the do’s and don’ts of turning your current level of video production into a fantastic video testimonial which can open the eyes and ears of your new customers based on the testimonials of your current customers. Testimonials: A Media History Since the introduction of mass media, people have been telling us that their products are great. Since the dawn of time, word of mouth as been the strongest path to finding excellence. In the earliest of times, town criers would travel around touting how a product was available and made lives easier. After a short time, however, people began to tire of hearing about the same products from the same town crier, and began tuning him or her out. As soon as hand written bills and broadsides were made available, people were reading in print just how fantastic new products and rare items were....
