Vivid Image» Beth

Our New Office in Minneapolis is Now Open

Beth — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:13:47 +0000

During a recent family vacation, Steve Gasser got the opportunity to feed and play with dolphins. Upon receiving some instructions from the dolphin trainers, Steve learned there is a “best” way to feed dolphins, by placing a hand under the chin before offering fish. Who knew?

As with any small business, there comes a time to evaluate new opportunities and listen to the needs of clients. Steve, president of Vivid Image, recognized that the “best” way and the “best” time to grow Vivid Image is now, in 2012 by opening an additional office in the Twin Cities area. With a growing number of clients in the metro area, coupled with the request for our web design and social media consulting services, Vivid Image is delighted to offer facilities for meeting and training space in Minneapolis, MN.

The opening of our new office is big news, however, we will continue to provide customers with innovative, cost-effective tools to encourage engagement and sales growth as we’ve done for the past seventeen years. If you have a business idea you’d love to discuss, contact us today and let us know at which location we’ll be having an inspiring conversation and a hot cup of coffee.

Vivid Image Launches a NEW Client-Inspired Website

Beth — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:05:35 +0000

For almost two decades, Vivid Image has met with small business owners and listened to ideas that have helped shape our company. We have gathered feedback, insight and creative ideas from our clients whom we value as trusted friends, and sculpted it into a new website we’re excited to share with you!

Our newly launched website, www.vimm.com focuses on THREE SIMPLE STEPS that hundreds of our small business clients have told us we simply have to bottle up and share with new customers. Simply put, our new website features proven processes, small business stories, online experiences, interesting business examples, a dash of humor, and client led information that we promise to give to you in easy to understand and fun to learn ways. Is it an oxymoron to call it “intelligent business gossip”?

Three Simple Steps

We’ve been saying “get inspired” for years, so it’s no secret that the most familiar of the three steps is PLAN: Ideas and Inspiration. The new website is filled with cutting edge ideas, examples to inspire, and stories from other small businesses that will get your wheels turning. We’re committed to making it easier to access our blog posts with valuable, practical marketing tips to help your small business grow; all you need is an email so be sure to subscribe to our new site right away via email or RSS feed.

The next step is BUILD: Innovation and Execution which is a direct result of helping over a thousand small businesses and entrepreneurs over the last seventeen years; trying out new ways for old processes, simplifying methods, cutting time and headaches, and celebrating the amazing results. From detailed case studies and simple “how-to” articles, our new website is dedicated to helping you reap the benefits of cumulative experience of our staff and clients. You’ll be able to subscribe to our newsletter, signup for trainings, and read more innovative ideas.

Finally, ENGAGE: Your Audience is where the conversation never ends. We want you, our reader engaged with us, just as you’d like your customers engaged with you. Our social media consultants, community managers, writers, and presenters will have you connecting with your audience in sincere, valuable ways. We return the favor by making ourselves available to your questions and concerns on our blog, via email or mobile device, and on Facebook/Twitter. You’re never very far from a Vivid Image friend.

Ready to get started? We’ll help; here is a great place to start!

Out of Blogging Inspiration? Here’s 56 Free Blogging Ideas

Beth — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:48:47 +0000

Check your “drafts” to see if you are ready to finish an article you started a while ago.
Don’t forget to ask staff if they’d be interested in writing articles.
Check with Receptionist/Customer Service Department/Sales Staff for commonly asked questions, and address those questions with answers in your next article.
Use all or part of case studies for articles. If none have been written yet, use client projects or service scenarios to demonstrate problem/solution oriented articles.
Use products/services list to choose one item to elaborate on, explaining in easy to understand terms what it is you offer. If you don’t have a list, brainstorm one and work off of it. This can be a source of articles for many months, depending on the length of your products/services options.
If you have clients complete feedback cards, address the issues in an article explaining either that it’s a great idea and what you’re working on to incorporate the idea, OR why it’s not feasible to accommodate that now; acknowledging the excellent ideas.
Feature a testimonial from a client.
Write about an upcoming industry related training or presentation that you/staff plan to attend. If appropriate to encourage your clients to attend as well, include necessary registration information.
Review an article or book related to your industry and readership interest.
Choose an ongoing topic for a series or mini-series that you add to on a regular basis on your blog.
Create a Question and Answer format, and either ask your clients for questions or write your own. You could also draw from a FAQ page from your website, highlighting a different one each blog post.
Ask your clients to submit stories and/or pictures using your products creatively, humorous stories, etc.
Re-use old articles, editing and updating for current use.
If you offer training or have materials already written to help clients with a specific topic, use portions of the materials to develop a new article.
Ask your staff for industry news that is timely and needs to be communicated. (new products, research studies, rebates, recalls, etc)
Ask your clients what they would like more information about or what topics would be helpful to them. Make sure to ask more than just your contact person. Issues that are pertinent to your contact person, may be very different from what the owner of the company, sales person, repair person, marketing person, janitor, support staff, customer service person wants/needs to know.
Identify a vertical industry (one that is relevant or complimentary to what you do, but not in direct competition) and ask others to write articles for your blog. They may have plenty of pre-existing items they can rework for you. Most people will welcome opportunities for free marketing.
Check with your manufacturer, supplier, distributor, parent company, etc for published articles and materials you can re-publish on your blog. If your sales increase due to your to additional marketing efforts, there may be affiliate payouts, commissions, benefits, etc.
Advise readers of critical dates such as upcoming events, sales, or rebates. Be sure to walk them through any necessary procedures and provide all critical information.
Summarize all pertinent information you/your staff learned at a recent conference or seminar, passing along an abbreviated version of helpful insight to your readers regarding new products, new services, new uses or updates to older items, research findings, price reductions, benefits, etc.
Use an interview format for an article. Interview a client, vender, or industry expert with predetermined questions to make it simple for everyone.
Obtain author’s written permission to use an article written and published in a local newspaper, newsletter or blog. Simply republish on your blog.
There are tons of articles online that are free to use and republish. Spend some time searching for some good sources and make a list. In most cases, all you need to do is give credit to the author and cite the source.
Reiterate important business relationship topics, such as your payment terms, return policies, office hours, holiday hours, contact information, directions, website, etc.
Premier sales on your blog or develop specific sales offers only for blog subscribers. This is a great measurement tool, as you can have clients reference codes published on your blog, different from those published in newspaper ads, direct mail, etc.
Ask clients to submit ideas they’d like covered in future issues on your blog.
Ask pre-selected employees, clients, and/or vendors, if they’d like a regular column. You set the parameters for the content, and let them write and develop on an ongoing basis.
Feature an article to get to know your staff and/or departments. You can either set standard questions and have others write the article, or use an interview format.
Highlight your business in the news. If you’ve been recently featured for one reason or another, write an article to extend the PR a little longer.
Build personal relations with your clients by writing about internal news such as new hires, long time retirements, winning awards, promotions, title changes, ownership changes, restructuring, etc. Make sure your blog readers hear things first, from you, the most trusted source.
Review your company calendar, company meeting agendas/notes, or company emails for items that may need to be shared or of particular interests to your clients. This is a great way to stimulate ideas that may otherwise get forgotten.
If your product, service, staff, or manufacturer has been recognized for honors or extraordinary results, or awards make sure to cover in an article explaining the importance of the recognition.
Highlight philanthropy: If you donate to a charity, offer a scholarship, volunteer time and/or staff resources it can be very important to communicate your involvement to your readership, offering them opportunities to get involved if they’re interested and would like more information.
Publish the history of your company. Many people have the story of the business framed on the wall or in their marketing materials.
Don’t be afraid to “re-run” articles on critical topics. It is common to assume that clients understand and retain information provided them, and yet statistics show that reiteration of the same topics proves helpful and diminishes common frustrations.
If your business is seasonal or products/services vary with seasons/holidays, make sure you write articles several months in advance to help prepare for increased business and customer needs. Address issues such as advance appointments, shipping, deadlines, inventory, etc.
Develop a customer of the month, highlighting their trust and years of patronage. Tell about your business relationship, products/services purchased over the years, how they use your business to solve their problems, and give them a free plug for their business/organization/ or cause they are passionate about.
Provide a list of resources for your readers that is related to your industry or that may stimulate additional inquiries. It may be a local list or an online list. For example, a professional organizer should provide updated information on where to donate unwanted items. A real estate agent should provide the same information to a client preparing a home to sell. An accountant would want to provide updated information on how to track (tax) donations for all the items these industries are assisting their clients with. It is amazing how important shared resources are and how helpful it can be to your clients.
Offer an incentive to your readers to forward the blog to others whom they think may be interested in subscribing.
Review a different section of your website, guiding your blog readers to your website, through the services you offer, and highlighting specific benefits or areas of interest. Choose a different area of the website to feature each issue.
Create a “Did You Know” section that simply relates facts or statistics about your company, products, service, industry, etc. For example, “Did you know that our company achieved 100% on-time shipping of all our products in 2011?”
Pictures can provide insight into your organization. Consider a pictorial tour by departments, process, product development, service, or delivery. Example: Outside view of building, reception area, offices, production, testing, delivery trucks, etc. You could also show history of the business through the years.
Articles aren’t the only content in a blog. Consider a quiz, contest, game, or other interactive idea to get your customers involved. Interesting ideas make it more likely that readers will retain information about your business.
Watch the news for related stories you will need to address for your readers, either to reiterate, explain, ease fears, or translate locally. An example may be food or toy recalls. Do you sell something that is getting national coverage? Would your readership wonder if you do? Address the issue.
Do you have a PR story to pitch? There are tons of writers who look for interesting stories to write that will get them their own good PR. Some will write about you for free, submit your story online, and give you permission to use the story on your own blog. Subscribe to blogs and newsletters, get familiar with some authors, and email them directly. Most will post their email address or websites after the article.
Check comments on your blog and other social sites and use those topics for your next blog post. This is probably going to be a great representation of what all most of your other readers want discussed as well.
Don’t underestimate the power of a brainstorming session with lots of people from your company. Ask for ideas for upcoming articles and let the ideas flow freely for a while. Then take notes. Chances are you’ll have more content ideas than you have time to address right away. Don’t forget to ask for volunteers to write, especially if someone is very passionate about something.
Are there tips and tricks you could provide to your customers that would make their use of your product or service easier, faster, cheaper, less stressful? This section would not need to be long, but would provide something new with each post such as: replacement parts, cleaning tips, preparations before service, dates to remember (changing filters), maintenance, record keeping, what to keep/throw, storage instructions, safety tips, other uses, etc. You could also use simple diagrams with your tips if appropriate.
It’s ok to hire a content writer. This option isn’t for everyone, but it can be very appropriate to hire help, especially with larger PR initiatives. If you do spend the money to have content written for your website, PR campaign, or marketing kit, make sure you use it (or excerpts) on your blog, in your newsletter, and everywhere! Get the most mileage you can out of pieces you’re paying an author to write!
Carry a notebook or journal to take notes of ideas that inspire you at inopportune times. You may be at a business meeting, out for supper, or at a child’s concert when a great idea crosses your mind. If you don’t write it down, you may not recall it later. Some of your best ideas will come when you’re least expecting it, so when all else fails, take a break. Don’t stress over creating content. Some blogs will have more content than others.
Post video content, explain a bit about the video and summarize. Give the video some context, but keep the blog post simple. Use your own videos or share some from YouTube that others have posted.
Tell a story. Is there a great story waiting to be told? Maybe something happened recently that you can relate to your business or customers. Stories are the best way to engage readers.
Ask your kids to write a post for you or ask question to a series of kids on something that would be interesting to your audience.
Use Google Alerts or Twitter Trends to gain ideas of what’s out there. It can be very inspiring to find out what people are talking about within your industry.
Check your website statistics or Google Analytics for topic ideas (search key phrases).
Use your website statistics to formulate a top 10 most read/viewed/commented stories of the year, and then create a blog post highlighting for those who may have missed a pivotal blog post along the way.

REMEMBER: Write about something you are passionate about; it will show in your writing. Write to the needs of your readers; they’ll establish you as an expert and look forward to what you have to say.

Do you have any to add to this list? Please post your comments below. Tell us how you get inspired to blog!

photo credit: herlitz_pbs

Easy Optimizing for YouTube

Beth — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 07:48:58 +0000

There are two parts to optimizing on YouTube so that people can find your videos and YouTube Channel if they aren’t following a link from somewhere. In contrast to Facebook’s less-than-desired search features, YouTube actually does a good job of returning relevant results to users. However, if your business is posting videos to YouTube to connect with customers and potential customers, you’ll want to follow these easy steps for optimizing both your YouTube Channel and all videos you post to your account.

Your YouTube Channel:

Add a photo or logo to your channel.
Select background colors or images that compliment your company brand.
Vivid Image can help you with a customized YouTube channel if you choose.
Add complete information about you, your business, and add links to your website and blog.
Use the “Update” and “Comments” section to update subscribers when you post a new video, or other new information.
Make sure you frequently check for friend and subscriber requests, comments to approve, and other information in your “inbox” on YouTube.

Your Videos:

Write a great Title for every video you upload. Don’t keep the default title that YouTube/Your Camera will assign your video.
Write a quality description of your video using keywords that people might search. Tell people more about the video such as where it was taken, why it was made, what they can expect to see, and what actions you’d like them to take (leave a comment, visit your Channel, subscribe, contact you, etc.)
Select as many relevant tags as possible. These help people to find your video when searching. Use as many variations as possible, and don’t forget about geographic specific tags.
Write your own tags/keywords, in addition to any that YouTube suggests.
Select the best category for your video.
Decide about comments. Since YouTube is a social network, it is highly recommended you allow comments. You can select “approve comments first” if you’d like.
Add geotracking to your videos to let people know where your business is located or where the video was taken. Simply enter your address and/or state and zip code to the map at the right.
Review the thumbnail selection of your video and choose the most flattering or enticing. You will not be able to do this immediately after you upload a video, but after a short time period this option will be available.
Don’t forget to save your changes!
Closed Captioning helps make your video handicap and foreign language accessible. To add closed captioning to your videos, go into edit video and select “captions and subtitles”. You’ll have to create a typed manuscript from the video first and save it as a tab-delimited file before attempting to upload. Vivid Image can help you with this too.

Do you have anything to add to this list? Please leave your tips below!

Why Local Listings are Important When Your Target Market Isn’t Local

Beth — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:15:36 +0000

You’ve likely heard a lot about claiming your local listings in Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Maybe you’ve been working under the excellent tutelage of Jackie’s recommendations in “Local Search: How to Claim What’s Yours”. Local listings are a crucial way to tap into Internet traffic and direct people your way.

But, what happens when your target market isn’t specific to your local area?

Local listings are still important even if your target market isn’t limited to your geographical location, and here is a fun scenario, with additional ideas, that will have you opening up a browser and getting started on Google Local.

Example

Your mother is so proud of the business you’ve built. She tells everybody, and I mean everybody what you do. She’s your biggest fan in every sense of the word. While vacationing in Arizona, she strikes up a conversation with someone who can’t really get a word in edgewise. He is actually your ideal client and takes mental note of your company name and city, because your mom can’t ever seem to remember your website address. Later that night your potential client hops on the Internet and types in a portion of your business name that he can remember and your city. Are you going to show up?

You get the picture. Whether someone needs to pull up a map, wants to check out some reviews, or likes to search in particular fashion, there is plenty of reason to believe all businesses need to claim their local search listings.

Other good reasons why you should claim your local listings even if you don’t sell your products or services locally:

When you claim your local listing, you’re letting Google know you’re there
When you claim a partial listing automatically created by Google, you get to correct and update information; Think about it like a phone book, whether it is local or not you want to have accurate and complete information
A local listing is in addition to any search engine optimization and ranking efforts
Enjoy top search results, based on search criteria
It’s free
You can claim multiple listings for multiple locations
Aid in correct mapping to your business via search engine maps, mobile and GPS devices
Make your business more searchable
You never know when a potential client will appear in your local area; businesses start and morph constantly over time.
Clients, investors, affiliates, and partners do their homework. They may search for you in local listings.
Take advantage of reviews, photos, videos, coupons and so much more that’s available via local listings.
Make it as easy as possible for people to find you; it’s almost the same as making it as easy as possible for people to do business with you.
Many savvy online searchers are accustomed to being able to quickly find a map, phone number, or email, as easy and quickly from a local listings as hunting for a website’s contact page.

Do you have questions about claiming your local listings? Let us know how we can help.

The Rules for Recycling Blog Posts

Beth — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:39:47 +0000

The other day a comment came through from a reader on a blog post that was written over two years ago; a reminder that what we write is indexed in search engines and searchable in our blogs indefinitely. After reading the comment, I reviewed the article and realized that is was really well written and the content is as pertinent today as it was two years ago.

When Vivid Image started blogging years ago, we didn’t have as many readers as we do today, nor were many of our clients “tuned-in” to our helpful content as they are now. That leaves us with a challenge of reintroducing older content in new ways.

So, can blog posts be recycled?

In a matter of speaking, yes. BUT, there are a few rules to follow so that you don’t jeopardize the integrity of your blog and the content you’ve got indexed with search engines.

Rules for Recycling Blog Posts

Never Delete Old Blog Posts: This should go without saying, yet I get this question frequently. Once you’ve posted something to your blog, exercise great caution when deleting old content that is likely indexed by search engines or bookmarked, shared as a link on a social site, etc.
Create New, in Order to Update Old Content: If you have new content to share that can replace older content, create a new blog post and link to the old content. You may go into your old content and add a link to the bottom letting people know of your newly posted content.
Make Minor Adjustments to Older Content: If you notice a spelling error, broken link, or email to an employee who is no longer at your company, for example, I believe you can (and should) make these minor changes to an old blog post; but leave the integrity of the content intact.
Never Copy Verbatim an Old Post to Create a New One: Search engines frown on duplicate copy, so make sure your new blog post isn’t exactly the same as an older one. Create a new blog post, add some original content, updates, summaries, links, industry news, etc and then link to the previous article(s) you are referencing.

Be Creative! There are many ways to draw attention to older articles, such as;

Writing a collection of your favorite articles you’ve written
Top 10 Articles in 2011
Create a list of the most controversial, commented, or shared articles about a certain subject
Pose a thought provoking question relating to a topic and link to older topics
Add a plug-in to the bottom of posts suggesting other blog posts
Get in the habit of linking and/or suggesting related topics in all new blog posts that readers can follow for more information.

Do you have anything to add to this list? Please comment below.

Check out the article, “How to Recycle Marketing Content” written by Sarah Manley last May. She gives many more great ideas.

Facebook Nostalgia

Beth — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:48:54 +0000

The changes that will begin happening on Facebook today may leave some people nostalgic for the days of old; The old Facebook that is. However, I challenge you to embrace these changes for one reason only:

Facebook is what it is today because of its radical roots.

Facebook is what it is today because of its radical roots. Whoever thought there would be an online tool to gather one billion people together in one day? Facebook was founded on some amazing ideas and technological advances to give people a free tool to network, and without improvements and enhancements, we’d find ourselves stuck in an early 1990s-like chat room.

As you start to see your Timeline appear, more integrated Facebook applications, and new words like “Watch” or “Read”, remind yourself to have fun and explore. With these changes will come many new opportunities for networking and growing your business on Facebook.

I want to invite you to drop in on our Vivid Image Facebook page today and the days to come to gather information, ask questions, and find a community of people willing to help you embrace these changes as they come.

Stay tuned…more to come!

photo credit: grilled cheese

Who Is Losing Sleep Over Me?

Beth — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:22:29 +0000

Today’s post is different; a timely story I thought I’d share with you that may prompt you to think differently about your customers. I also hope to inspire a bit more passion in your work.

Last night as I lay awake, willing the sandman to arrive, my mind drifted to a variety of topics as it usually does. I found myself thinking about work, worrying about little things here and there, and praying for peace so my thoughts would quiet down and I could sleep. As soon as I’d ration with myself that all is fine and to relax, the thoughts would churn through my head once again. I worried that perhaps I forgot to do something, although I couldn’t think of what that would be. I suspect this is normal for those of us who function at a high level of passion about our work.

When I got up, it was my day off. While I was able to finally sleep, my mind immediately drifted back to partially finished projects, ideas I had yet to write down, client conversations the previous week, and so forth. Before long, I was back to indexing what had to get done and sporatically jotting down ideas I had for various clients. I didn’t want to forget to be inspired when I got back to work the next day, nor did I want to lose track of ideas popping in my mind for the following week, month, and even year. As you can imagine, I was zombie walking through the house, doing laundry and dishes, while my thoughts ran through imaginary scenerios.

After admonishing myself for not getting more sleep the night before, convinced that another cup of coffee would help, I headed to the coffee pot. Then it hit me. I stopped dead in my tracks and thought, “Who is losing sleep over me?” Is there someone walking around his or her house on her day off pondering if I’m a happy customer or what more he/she can do for me upon returning to work?

I want to inspire you to approach your customers in a whole new way today. Whether you are training in a new employee or writing a blog post, think about your most valuable asset; your current customer! Small businesses strategize about how to differentiate themselves from competitors. Taking care of your customers and making sure they know how much they mean to you is critical.

The next time you are on the other side of the counter, ask yourself “I wonder if this person is losing sleep over me?” Maybe this question is a bit extreme, but the image it conjures is interesting, isn’t it?

photo credit: shinya

Facebook, Boldly Goes Where No Social Network Has Gone Before

Beth — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:39:14 +0000

Several of us at Vivid Image sat glued to a live stream video from f8 today to hear Mark Zuckerberg announce the much-anticipated changes to the world’s largest social network. Boasting an achieved goal of 800 million members, Zuckerberg spoke to an online audience that grew so rapidly I couldn’t read the ticker tape.

Recently Facebook achieved the unthinkable; “a half a billion people logged on and used the social network in one day!” said Zuckerberg. His body language made one thing clear, he was irrefutably excited about the metamorphosis Facebook is experiencing.

Another thing was made very clear. We need to expect sweeping changes to the social media tool very soon, and they will be unlike any Facebook changes we’ve seen thus far. So much is changing on Facebook, it’s difficult to summarize. I will hit the high points today, but you can expect to hear quite a bit more about this in the days and weeks to come. Get ready to wear a “I Survived the Facebook Changes in 2011″ badge!

Facebook Changes Announced on 9-22-11

Major changes to personal profiles. With a brand-new layout, and a nice “featured” photograph, the new profiles will loosely resemble a personal blog. “Timelines” is the new term, which users will get to know well in the months to come. Each profile will look a bit like a personal, online newspaper displaying photos and recent information in an easy to navigate “Timeline”. The next generation of Facebook user will essentially grow-up on the social network, building a “Timeline” as he/she goes; a social-media-pictorial-auto-biography of sorts.
Music and Movie integration is going to be a major sharing opportunity. With Netflix and Spotify on board, you’ll now be able to listen to the same music, at the same time as a friend. Imagine the possibilities of things going viral!
We all paused a while ago when the “Like” button came out, but soon you’ll be seeing buttons such as “Read”, “Watch”, “Hike”, etc. Now, you can share that your “Read” a book without necessarily “Like”ing the book. Zuckerberg called it “real-time serendipity”.
Applications are going to dominate and the integration between mobile will be seemless. Less permissions will be necessary when using applications, and wait until you see how beautiful the new Facebook Timelines look on the mobile version. I actually gasped aloud!

If you watched the announcement today and want to add in some additional points I weeded out, please do so in the comments. Watch our Vivid Image Facebook page for frequent updates, as we answer questions and help you navigate the changes in the days to come!

Rural Minnesota Organization Crafts the Perfect Tagline

Beth — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:53:16 +0000

Today’s Monday morning Remark!able post features an organization from rural Minnesota that is using social media to flush out a perfect, new tagline. West Central Initiative, a regional community foundation serving nine counties in west central Minnesota is going through the sometimes arduous task of recreating their tagline.

Last Thursday, I saw their post on Facebook asking for feedback on their proposed tagline, “Investing Resources in Our Communities for Regional Success.” I immediately liked the idea, and because they posted it to Facebook using the Questions Tool, I was able to tell them so.

Valuable Feedback

Using this free feedback tool to gather feedback and gauge community support for their tagline project will hopefully prove to be a valuable choice for their organization.It’s a perfect example of using social media in Remark!able ways to create positive change and accomplish goals for a business or organization. You can check out West Central Initiative on Facebook and vote on their tagline too!

How would honest feedback help your business save money, make clients happier or reduce tedious boardroom discussions?