Blog | 3 Olive Studios

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Blogging by Mack Collier

One of the biggest concerns you'll hear from bloggers struggling to write that next post is 'it's all been said before'. And it's true, by now every topic has pretty much been covered and dissected from every angle. But does that mean you can't bring something new to the table?

A popular theme/point in social media circles is how a company can leverage a blog as a tool to establish their expertise. A great way to do this, is by sharing their knowledge, and creating content that others can find value in. Think of it as growing your influence by giving away knowledge.

This point has been blogged about countless times by countless people. But notice what Shannon Paul does here in blogging about this same idea. She ties this point back to a personal experience, in this case her grandmother's ability to make wonderful cakes. She talks about how her grandmother shared her recipes with others, but despite knowing what ingredients went into the cakes, somehow no one could make cakes that tasted as good as Shannon's grandmother.

By giving this information away, Shannon's grandmother became known for her expertise in making cakes. Shannon ties this idea back to your blogging, by sharing your knowledge, you invite collaboration, and give others the tools and ideas they need to succeed. You empower others, and in doing so, you create value for them, and become known as an expert in your particular area.

By taking that idea that had been covered countless times, and equating it to a personal experience, Shannon has made the core idea more relevant, and interesting. And as a bonus, she has made it easier for her readers to connect with her. How many people will read that post and think 'my granny was the same way! No one could cook better than she did!'

So if you are looking for a topic to blog about, don't be afraid to add a personal anecdote to illustrate your idea. Often, you will make your post more interesting and relevant, and you will probably make it easier for your readers to connect with you as well.

Labels:

Monday, April 13, 2009

Join a Meetup Group

Search meetup.com for groups of interest in your area. These groups are a great way to meet people in your field and to learn and share ideas and knowledge.

3 Olive Studios is part of The Cambridge Search Engine Optimization Meetup Group and The Boston WordPress Meetup Group.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Freebies: Free textures

Free textures for graphic and web designers

www.2expertsdesign.com/

Labels:

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Quick tip: free keyword generator

Google's free keyword tool shows you advertiser competition: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Happy Easter

Labels:

Quick tip: SEO- site analysis

Use www.linkvendor.com to receive a free site analysis. It will tell you how optimized your site is for free!

Another service that does site analysis is Traffic Blazer. Traffic Blazer costs $29.99/year.

Labels:

Friday, April 10, 2009

Quick tip: link building

In search engine optimization, one of the most important steps is link building. Here are some tips on how to get other sites to link back to your own.



1. It is pretty easy to ask or answer questions on Yahoo! Answers and provide links to relevant resources.

2. It is pretty easy to ask or answer questions on Google Groups and provide links to relevant resources.

3. If you run a fairly reputable company, create a page about it in the Wikipedia or in topic specific wikis. If it is hard to list your site directly, try to add links to other pages that link to your site.

4.
It takes about 15 minutes to set up a topical Squidoo page, which you can use to look like an industry expert. Link to expert documents and popular useful tools in your fields, and also create a link back to your site.

5.
Submit a story to Digg that links to an article on your site. You can also submit other content and have some of its link authority flow back to your profile page.

6. If you publish an RSS feed and your content is useful and regularly updated, some people will syndicate your RSS content.

7.
Most forums allow members to leave signature links or personal profile links. If you make quality contributions some people will follow these links and potentially read your site, link at your site, and/or buy your products.

8. Review relevant products on Amazon.com. We have seen this draw in direct customer enquiries and secondary links.

9.
Start a blog. Not just for the sake of having one. Post regularly and post great content. Good execution is what gets the links.

10. Depending on your category and offer, you will find Craigslist to be a cheap or free classified service.



For more tips go to:

http://www.seobook.com/archives/001792.shtml

Labels:

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Wordpress

Our Wordpress site

Article: SEO

Great article about Search Engine Optimization

http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/2010.htm

Labels:

Monday, April 6, 2009

Logo Design Process

The steps:

"Design Brief: Conduct a questionnaire or interview with the client to get the design brief.
Research: Conduct research focused on the industry itself, on its history, and on its competitors.
Reference: Conduct research into logo designs that have been successful and current styles and trends that may be related to the design brief.
Sketching & Conceptualizing: Develop the logo design concept(s) around the brief and research.
Reflection: Take breaks throughout the design process. This lets your ideas mature and helps you get renewed enthusiasm. Receive feedback.
Positioning: Position yourself as a contractor or build a long lasting relationship. ie. Client tells you what to do OR you guide the client to the best solution. The latter is usually best however personally, I try to find a happy medium.
Presentation: Choose to present only a select few logos to the client or a whole collection. Presenting only the best is recommended.
Celebration: Drink beer, eat chocolate, sleep, start on next logo design. Or a combination."

From Just Creative Design (www.justcreativedesign.com)

Labels:

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Freebies

Get free adobe illustrator and photoshop brushes and textures at:

http://www.bittbox.com/category/freebies/

Labels:

Friday, April 3, 2009

Quick tip: Website meta tag description

In your description meta tag, have a strong call to action. Make sure to include your phone number and address if relevant.

Example:

<meta name="description" content="3 Olive Studios is a web design, graphic design, and marketing company in Boston. Call us at 857.350.4611" />

Labels:

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Networking Event

Our office will be attending the following next Tuesday night (4/7), hope to see you there:

Group: Boston Networking Club

"Boston Networking Club invites you to join us at the monthly networking event on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 Networking Cocktail Party from 6:00pm - 10pm Turner Fisheries - Private Dining Room Westin Hotel Copley Place Boston Join us for a fun night of networking, cocktails, and light hors d'oeuvres. Bring tons of business cards!!! The last one had over 300 guests. You can win great door prizes including: - Tickets to the Spring Wine Fest - Tickets to upcoming networking events. - Restaurant gift certificates hosted by BostonEventGuide.com and Boston Networking Club. Who will be there: This event is geared towards professionals 20s, 30s and 40s+... looking to network and socialize with other like minded people in a fun, upscale environment. $15 (members), $20 non-members and door price, if available Click here to reserve now and for more info www.bostoneventguide.com/events/bnc.htm Space is limited! This event will sell out!!! Interested in a sponsor table? www.bostoneventguide.com/events/bnc.htm We offer sponsors a package including a table at the event and website space starting at only $250. You get a logo and 50 words of text to display below. At the event you will be given a table to display and connect with the event attendees. Click here to reserve a sponsor space www.bostoneventguide.com/events/bnc.htm This is a private 21+ event."

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Our office is currently listening to...

Skinny Dippin Girl by Joe Purdy