Of course, this is my novice (non-graphic-designer) opinion, but I’ve yet to meet another designer who’s work I love so much. I think it’s a style preference…  She’s awesome to work with too (we’ve worked on a few projects together). Recently, Victoria rocked the design world. From her blog:

One of the authors of Graphic Design Referenced (a 400-page visual guide to the language, applications, and history of graphic design) contacted me for permission to use my work in his book! I am obviously pumped.

Congrats, Victoria. That’s an awesome honor!

Great marketing requires great design. Our trades are integral.

Stellar web copy will be bypassed without remarkable design;
remarkable design will be discredited without stellar copy.

Visit Victoria’s blog for more design love. You can also contact her for freelance work!

Opening up a conversation can be a revolutionary concept for the traditional marketing strategy. Allowing your network to transform from “audience” to “conversationalists” means giving up control of your brand. Repeat after me:how

“Here, network: Own my brand.”

It’s no longer a message, it’s a conversation. This will challenge your traditional content like never before. Rather then talking at your consumer, you’re discussing your product/service with them. This means you don’t own the jargon, the message, or even the attitude: for better or worse, the conversation will happen.

A few tips on influencing your brand-related conversation:

• Never cover-up negativity; instead, immediately address it.
  A Twitter user recently tweeted a complaint about Comcast rates and reliability. Rather then ignoring the problem or bragging about how great their service REALLY is, the @comcastcares team responding with: “Can I look into that for you?”
• Don’t be afraid to let your company personality to shine.
  To continue driving home the “neighborhood” feel of their restaurants, Applebees launched their Real Videos promotion, requesting patron videos of them having fun and building community. While I wouldn’t model a plan after this initiative, it’s a step in the right direction.
• Let your network tell YOU what they want–and communicate your response to it. ASK them.
  Just 2 hours ago, @zappos (the Zappos CEO) tweeted: “Poll: “Poll: If you were able to take a peek behind the scenes at Zappos, what would you be interested in learning?” Rather then assuming the network wanted just another company-about video…they ASKED.

This slideshare video has been circulating the social media scene; this is ironic because many of us already using these tools are too familiar with it’s content. However, it provides some great stats and organizes a few thoughts.

| View | Upload your own

If you made it through (or even if you didn’t), navigate your way back to slide 21. I’m among the few lucky enough to work for a web development company OBSESSED with great client ROI–and our clients are just as enthusiastic. This leads me to wonder “wtf” are the traditional television advertisers thinking… ANYWAY.

Creating value in your social networks starts with trust. Consider the infamous Comcast Twitter example: It began with one Comcast employee who began addressing customer complaints/issues as they’d gripe to their friends on Twitter (I’ve heard it’s since grown to a team of employees). These complaints/issues were ALREADY being talked about…and unaddressed, allowed to spread virally. Rather then the complaint resonating without resolution, the employee went above and beyond to solve problems–thereby incurring some great benefits:

• increased customer satisfaction
• resolved potentially viral negative press
• personal attention continues to reinforce consumer TRUST for the 2,239 users who follow the employee(s)
• News media picked up on their tactic and starting talking about it–FREE PR!

Cons? (They have to exist, right?) There is a time cost related to addressing these concerns (much like staffing a call center). Also, you have to understand social media: treating it like traditional avenues will TANK you. Stay tuned for a blog on how to use content to feed your social media conversations.

If you haven’t already, I invite you to subscribe to my RSS feed. It should keep you in the loop as to the things I get most excited about in online marketing.