Peeking Undeneath the Hood – Your Blog #’s & Ours!

Jean Perpillant, owner, head honcho and web designer extraordinaire of Design Theory and I recently had a conversation about the importance of Social Media and in particular, blogging.  Oftentimes one of the hardest parts of our (and in particular my) job is getting clients to believe that professional blogging is a worthwhile cause and can be a great contributor to your business’s success. See a previous blog I wrote on that subject at http://bit.ly/WaawSu.  So as we were talking about our own numbers and the ROI therefrom, I suggested lifting the hood on our analytic statistics to prove just how vital this is to the exposure and growth of your business and that business’s profitability.  He loved the idea of using our own transparency to prove the validity of our belief to outside clients that there is a tangible benefit To Blog or Not to Blog.  No dirty overalls or Goop needed, here we go…

The early part of September hits on our weekly blogs – 572 Page Views

As you can see, we have 3 main contribution sources for our readership this particular week-those who come through our blog being indexed on Google, visits to our blog through visiting www.jpdesigntheory.com directly and others through various alternative search engines.  As you can see, the top referring websites that contribute to our audience statistics are Google & LinkedIn with majority this weeks of readership coming from our blogs being indexed on Google.  Ah yes, the power of Google.

At Design Theory, we know that our readership is vital to getting our name out there not only in the World Wide Blogosphere but also to the masses as a whole.  We’re not a huge corporation with various satellite offices (YET!) but we know that having a world wide presence is the key to meeting our company goals as well as attaining clientele outside our hubs geographic region in Orlando, Florida.  What you can also see from the Audience Stats, is that Tuesday happens to be our highest number of reads for this particular week.  Knowing that information is important because it tells us at DT, that the early part of the week is the best time to post and also can help clue us in as to who is posting on that day & the impact that person has our readership.  Monday is right behind Tuesday for readership and I happen to know that those 2 days blogs are written by Daphne Lenti, our lead Graphic Designer on Monday and me, your happy Wordsmith & Content Marketeer (love the title right!) on Tuesday.  What it additionally shows Daphne & I is how important our blogging is to the exposure of our company AND that people are interested in what we have to say & that we have a well-respected level of knowledge on what we write about.  It also shows that our connections on LinkedIn are working as an additional exposure source through our professional networks and the groups we are affiliated with on there.

The 3rd week of this month – 994 Page Views

What you see right off the bat is that our Page Views have dramatically increased by 442!  Additionally, the 3 main contribution sources to these statistics remain the same but take note of the jump from 24 visits via LinkedIn to a whopping 148 visits in just 2 weeks!  Once again Daphne & I are neck in neck until we get to a spike in readership on Thursday.  Also note that the top viewing location has changed from Tijuana to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.  I have no clue why but talk about a world wide presence!

So the crux of our To Blog or Not to Blog and reason for our behind the scenes look at our blogs, is to put our own “argument” to the test and to show you that we practice what we preach to our clients.  Oh, and it works!

~ Content Writing Inspiration ~   

This morning I took out a comma and this afternoon I put it back again.
                                                                                                       ~Oscar Wilde

Designers: Jack Of All Trades, Master of None?

Web design wordsThis topic is one that I must say is a bit close to home. Maybe its a bit of therapy to say some things out loud, and maybe its a cry for help. Either way, it’s something I felt I should bring up to get you (our readers) to comment on. When I got into the web design or design industry, I had taken no prior classes, courses, lessons, drawing, nada. My background was in IT. Break just about any device and I could fix it. Now when I decided to walk into the design field, I jumped all in. Pestered my friends to let me use their computers to try out Photoshop. Bought really old versions of Macromedia desktop publishing software. I tried to get my hands on all the tools I would need to be a success.

After attaining all the things I needed, I really got involved in learning. However the more I learned the more I learned I had a lot to learn. So then I started to learn less new things, and develop skills in the things I knew or wanted to be better at. And that’s when the problems started. I became pretty good in creating wireframes and websites, basic business logos, flash animations, and more. However when opportunities came to me for more complex jobs, I shied away from them.  Sure I would take some but most I wouldn’t because I knew I’d be getting in over my head. What I should have done was take all that as a sign to become a master at one thing at a time.

When you’re a solo-preneur in this industry, you almost don’t have a choice but to try to learn and do everything yourself. My advice is to learn a trade at a time. Get to be great at design, then move to web. When you’ve conquered those then move to mobile. But being “ok” in all of those and more will end up hindering you on seeing big picture and acquiring bigger clients. I mean that’s the goal isn’t it? To get bigger contracts that allow you to continue to do what you love. Now if you don’t have time to learn more, hire someone who already does know more than you. In fact surround yourself with people who know a heck of a lot more than you. It helps you stay humble, but also makes you aspire to be a greater designer.

Graphic Design Trends for 2012

Graphic Design Trends for 2012

While there are key classic practices that should make your designs safe every year in terms of projection and content, you will not be able to guarantee its effectiveness if it stays static.  The key to continuous success with your work,  is for you to always develop them with the current trends in mind.  In this special guide, we will go through some of the most important trends that you will want to include in your custom designs this New Year 2012. If you can integrate this properly enough, there should be little issues and more success.

Design trends for this year are bold and aim to grab audience attention.

Logos: Create streamlined logos and graphics – For 2012, all designers are upgrading their logos and graphics to more streamlined variations.

Simplicity rules: Simple designs are in right now, and the reason for that is, well… simple.

Type can be design: In the absence of complicated visuals, typography is playing a larger role in design. Those designers who know how to put typefaces to work to their best advantage will come out on top.

As we move together into a new year, we are promised some amazing advances in the world of technology and design. Evolving your brand through web design, print design and even architectural design are ways that you can stay ahead of the competition and encounter new demographics in your market.