General Marketing Advice Tips

| JDriver

Marketing is a vast and complex subject. It needs careful consideration if it’s to be done right, and can be an expensive mistake if done wrongly. Here are some tips about marketing in general, and its aims.

1. What are your strengths and who will appreciate them?

Marketing isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ exercise; carefully targeting your marketing to a specific group means that it’s likely to be more effective and that your efforts aren’t wasted by trying to appeal to people who won’t want/need your product or service.

2. Understand the wants and needs of your customers

What need or desire of your customer will you be fulfilling? Think about what you are offering and which needs you will be meeting.

3. Differentiate yourself from the competition

How will you be different from your competition? There’s a number of ways you can do this, will it be price? Level of service?

4. Be clear about what you and your business stands for

People love consistency and consistency will help you strengthen your brand. What is your message? Will people remember you for it?

5. Fail to plan…

…and plan to fail. Trite but true. Figure out your goals and a way to measure results.

6. Don’t assume people want what you’re selling

This is particularly true of new products. Although it’s great to find a niche and fill it, do your research first. What problem is your product resolving?

7. Marketing isn’t…

Just having a website, placing an ad in the paper, having a leaflet, or trying to sell the same thing to everybody.

True West – Stage Design

| JDriver

Stage design and construction for a show at New Venture Theatre; True West by Sam Shepard. A realistic kitchen with breakfast bar was built for the show.

Skills Range

  • Set Design
  • Set Construction

True West Stage Design - New Venture Theatre (1)
True West Stage Design - New Venture Theatre (2)
True West Stage Design - New Venture Theatre (3)

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Crowd-Funding / Fund-Raising Websites, Sites Like IndieGoGo

| JDriver

When you have a new creative project, particularly large-scale ones, be they film, theatre or something else entirely it can be difficult to raise the funds you need. Fortunately a number of sites have sprung up to help you, though of course for a fee, usually a cut of the total funds raised. I present a list that is by no means exhaustive.

Crowd-Funding as way to get your project off the ground

These crowd-funding platforms are certainly useful, however be aware that you’ve still got to put the effort in to drive traffic to your project’s page. There are a large number of success stories, just browsing the sites let’s you see how well it has worked for others, and it can work for you too. I’ve personally been involved in a few projects where different platforms have been used with success.

A List of Fund Raising Websites in no Particular Order

• www.indiegogo.com

“IndieGoGo helps you raise more money, from more people, faster.

Have something you are passionate about? On IndieGoGo you can create a funding campaign to raise money quickly and securely. Our trusted platform has helped to raise millions of dollars for over 60,000 campaigns, across 211 countries.

Anyone can start raising money right now on IndieGoGo! You can create a funding pitch, offer unique perks or tax deductions to your contributors in lieu of offering profit (you always keep 100% ownership), and get the word out! Each campaign has the opportunity to be featured on our homepage, placed in the press, or exposed via social media.”

• www.ulule.com

“Ulule enables you to discover original projects and products. On Ulule, you only pay if the project owner or seller reaches their financial objective. A new way to help, share or participate in bringing great ideas to life.”

• www.kickstarter.com

“We help people (like you!) fund creative projects.

Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.

Each and every Kickstarter project is the independent creation of someone like you! Have an idea that you think might work on Kickstarter? Tell us about it!”

• www.invested.in

“Invested.in is an interactive platform enabling users to leverage their social capital to raise financial capital. In simpler words, it is a platform built to help anyone raise money for anything, utilizing their existing social network presence*. Invested.in is heavily connected to every aspect of your online social life, utilizing Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc… to help you reach your fundraising goals. Our grassroots approach to P2P lending allows our users to return goods, services, or anything in between for their investments. We are truly putting the future of the community into the hands of the community, and out of the hands of the traditional banking and credit card sector.”

• www.pledgemusic.com

“PledgeMusic is a music company offering you a new way to take control of your career. We’re not interested in being a rights owner – Pledge does not want ANY rights to your music, live income, merch etc. We just help you fund whatever type or format of record you want to release next.”

• www.crowdcube.com

“Crowdfunding – a new way to raise investment

Crowdcube gives the UK’s best entrepreneurs and business pioneers a newfangled way to raise business finance by tapping into a ‘crowd’ of like minded trendsetters willing to invest smaller amounts of cash in exchange for rewards and a stake in their business.”

• www.sponsume.com

“Sponsume offers a brand new way of exploring innovative ideas and helping turn them into reality.

We are a funding platform where creative people sell perks and rewards to fans in order to fund their project.

Fans make their favourite project happen by buying its rewards – and creators always retain 100% ownership of their project!”

• www.spot.us

“Spot.Us is a nonprofit platform to pioneer “community powered reporting.”

Through Spot.Us the public can support journalists and newsrooms to do reporting on important and perhaps overlooked topics. Contributions are tax deductible and we partner with news organizations to distribute content under appropriate licenses.

Community members can also take a survey from our foundation sponsors, when available, to support the story of their choice at no cost.”

• www.rockethub.com

“RocketHub is a launchpad and community for independent artists and entrepreneurs.

We offer an innovative way to raise money (Crowdfunding) and tangible opportunities to take creative products and endeavors to next level (LaunchPad Opportunities). RocketHub is a destination for emerging artists and entrepreneurs, and those who wish to discover and support innovative work.”

• www.pozible.com.au

“Pozible provides project creators with a platform to present their ideas to a worldwide audience. If anyone likes the idea, they can support it by pledging money to the creator’s project. In return for support, the project creators will offer rewards depending on the level of funding; essentially differentiating itself from the normal funding process.”

• www.peerbackers.com

“peerbackers allows you to harness the power of your crowd – be they friends, family, customers, co-workers, or even total strangers – to get your idea off the ground. This new way of fundraising democratizes the funding process allowing all persons, even those with very little to give, to show their support and be a part of something big (and get a tangible reward in the process!) Another benefit is businesses at all stages of development can get access to the funding they need. Through this platform great business ideas that do not yet have the marketplace traction to attract traditional investment can get the capital they need to launch or to reach their crucial next stage of development.”

• www.sellaband.com

“To unite Artists and Fans in an independent movement that aims to level the playing field in the global music industry.”

• www.sellaband.com

“To unite Artists and Fans in an independent movement that aims to level the playing field in the global music industry.”

The Pros & Cons Of Splash Pages

| JDriver

It may be 2013 but the discussions regarding splash pages / intro pages is still raging due to pockets of resistance. They were quite common in the 90’s and you will still see them around. So what’s all the fuss about and why do so many people loathe them?

What Are Splash Pages / Screens?

A splash page is a website page that sits in front of your main site. They often contain an introduction to the site, possibly in the medium of a flash animation though there’s always variations. Even though they’re considered to be pretty bad form for a number of reasons, they still crop up and I’ve had people request them, though I always advise against.

I’ve tried to be objective, but I’m definitely part of the anti-splash screen mob. I’ve really struggled to come up with many pros. You can see the lists below.

A Brief Summary

So do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages? I’d definitely say ‘no’ and that is the general consensus. The benefits should be created in the main site e.g. good design will lead the eyes of your visitors to the areas of the web page you want to draw attention to.

Ultimately, there’s nothing that a splash page can do, that can’t be achieved either to the same effect or better by inclusion into the main body the site.

The verdict: Dont’s Use Splash Pages

Splash Pages: Pros

  • They can be used to grab the users attention and getting them to focus on one thing, such as a video or other content
  • Options can be presented to your visitor e.g. picking their country or choosing a version of your site that is suitable for the technology that they’re using
  • Important news / updates etc. can be addressed before the user enters the site
  • Legal notices can be displayed, for example, age confirmations for sites which contain adult material

Splash Pages: Cons

  • Splash pages are very poor for usability and may use technologies that users either have turned-off or not have installed on their machines
  • They delay the speed at which users can access your site
  • Anecdotal evidence suggests that site owners can experience bounce* rates increase by 25%
  • Many users find them annoying. The vast majority that do continue past the splash screen use the ‘skip’ button to get past it
  • They deter repeat visitors as they won’t want to see it each time they visit your site
  • Search engines don’t like splash pages and this will damage your page rank

*Bounce rates refer to the number of visitors who arrive at the first page and then leave without visiting any other page.

Email Marketing Tips – Some Fundamentals

| JDriver

Email marketing can be useful if done correctly. Unfortunately, making them effective can be difficult as people can get inundated with emails clamouring for their attention and people are less forgiving when it comes to regarding emails as spam.

1. Greet Them Personally

Using the recipients first name makes the email seem more legitimate as it makes them think that the sender is known to them, therefore they’re more likely to read it.

2. One-Click Unsubscribe

Should a recipient wish to unsubscribe, you should honour the request graciously and promptly. If you categorise your various email communications, recipients can then have the option to stop receiving one type, whilst choosing to receive another type.

3. Consistency

As with all of your companies marketing materials, keeping a consistent look and feel means that you strengthen your brands image. Not to mention that it looks professional.

4. People Buy From People

Emails are typically a bit more informal than other means so don’t be afraid to inject some personality into your marketing emails.

5. Give People A Reason To Read The Email

Although you are passionate about your business you can’t expect your customers to be as enthusiastic. There should be a good reason for the recipient to read to email and to continue receiving them. Make it useful, make it informative, add discount coupons, exclusive deals or what ever else you can think of.

6. Test And Test Some More

Once you start sending email out you need to keep and eye on how well they’re performing. Commercial email marketing software will provide analytic results so that you can see various information, such as how many people open the email etc. Ideally you should test two slightly different emails at the same time, so half of your mailing list receive one version the rest receive the other version. This is called A/B SPLIT TESTING. Comparing one email against another means that you can see which is more effective and then keep altering and testing to make them as effective as they can be.

6.2 Test Your Subject Line

The subject line is one of the primary aspects of a marketing email that will dictate whether the recipient will open the email or trash it. A/B split test your subject lines.

7. Avoid Assassins

Spam assassins and other tools can silently take out your email without the proposed recipient ever seeing it. Here’s some common pitfalls just to get you started:

  • DON’T USE ALL CAPS
  • Avoiding using multiple exclamation marks
  • Words such as ‘Free’, ‘Sex’, ‘Discount’ and ‘Click Here!’ will give spam assassins itchy trigger-fingers
  • HTML emails must be properly coded
  • Avoid large image to text ratios. A common tactic of spammers is to use large images instead of text in order to disguise the content
  • Use only permission-based email lists

8. Tell Your Providers

If you’re campaign is likely to be quite substantial, let your email service provider know. Otherwise you may get blacklisted as a spammer.

9. Give The Option of HTML And Plain Text

You should also give people this choice. Personal freedom aside, HTML emails are displayed differently by the various email clients there are. An email viewed in Outlook may well look different to one viewed in Gmail for instance.

10. Keep The Best Content At The Top

Nearly all email clients have a preview pane, allowing recipients to view an email without actually opening it. Keep your best content at the top of the email to make sure they see it.

CSS3 Text Styling, Drop Shadows and Other Cool Effects

| JDriver

CSS3 is coming soon

In fact it’s already here in vary degrees with the majority of browsers already supporting a number of tags, though the final iteration of CSS3 hasn’t yet been decided upon.

Us geeks are very excited about it. Why all the hype? Traditionally, interesting graphic effects and typography on websites has been done with images, particularly where the designer has wanted to use a font which isn’t widely used (and so wouldn’t display on computers which didn’t have that font). CSS3 means that haven’t to resort to using images for everything will be a thing of the past.

So fancy graphics. Is that all?

The benefits and abilities of CSS3 are much more wide-reaching than just making things look nice, particularly as it will be accompanied by HTML5, but I’m not going to go into all that business here.

I just want to demonstrate some cool typography effects that can be achieved using CSS3 alone, of course, this depends on the capabilities of your web browser.

Test your browsers CSS3 support capabilities here

I’m not a designer, what is CSS3?

There are a number of programming and scripting languages that are used to create webistes. The main ones are HTML and CSS. To put it simply, HTML provides the content of the page while CSS tells the content what it should look like.

The examples below depend on the support of CSS3 that your web browser currently has. Internet Explorer users beware: most, if not all of the examples will not work. Internet Explorer has always obstinately interpreted HTML/CSS differently from the other browsers and generally has extremely limited support for CSS3.

Neon Glow

Letterpress

Plays for Coarse Acting – Design

| JDriver

About The Project

Coarse acting is style that ridicules amateur dramatic groups with over-acting, forgotten lines, missed cues and ropey scenery.

Rather brave for a small theatre company to take on something that is self-mocking, but the show was a huge success. Only great acting, directing and so on can pull off something like this, making it hilarious instead of just ludicrous.

The show took place at new Venture Theatre, Brighton. I was asked to design a throne, on wheels, that would collapse on cue. Carefully constructed so that a single pin held the throne together. Moments before the actor sitting in the throne was to make it collapse, another actor would simply slide the pin out of the back, unseen by the audience.

Skills Range

  • Prop Design
  • Prop Construction

Plays for Coarse Acting 1
Plays for Coarse Acting 2
Plays for Coarse Acting 3
Plays for Coarse Acting 4

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The Self – Self Directed

| JDriver

Another self-directed project, these images were created during my MA at the University of Brighton. My MA was focussed on the idea of the self, the anima and animus; anthropomorphic archetypes of the unconscious mind.

My MA consisted of a large number of explorations before settling on a final piece which looked at life experiences, and why different people react differently to the same situations.

Skills Range

  • Illustration
  • Photography

The Self 1
The Self 2
The Self 3
The Self 4
The Self 5

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The Portland Project – Self Directed

| JDriver

About The Project

These images were created for a self-directed project, a series of illustrations of some of the more recognisable buildings along Portland Road, Brighton & Hove.

Using Google Street View as reference these were created solely in Illustrator.

Skills Range

  • Illustration

Illustration of Portland House Nursing Home, Portland Road, Hove
Illustration of St Peters Church, Portland Road, Hove
Illustration of the old bingo hall, Portland Road, Hove

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The Narrative Die – Self Directed

| JDriver

A self-directed project. The toy is a 10-sided die with a unique, relatively simple image on each side. Through a pre-defined number of rolls, the user would tell a story based upon the images.

Although not initially aimed at children, the product could be an ideal toy to help children with story telling.

Skills Range

  • Graphic Design
  • Product Design

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