Monthly Archives

August 2016

Aug 31
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Finding Inspiration

Finding Inspiration

By | Graphic Design, Marketing, Web Design | No Comments

Let’s be honest….there are days when your creative juices are overflowing and you have a hundred great, new ideas, just bursting at the seams. Then there are other days, where you feel like you are wandering around a desert, hoping for just one idea to come along. During those dark and idealess days, I try and find inspiration to help spark something. There are thousands of different websites to get inspiration, these just happen to be my favorite places to go.

1. Google

This one might seem a little obvious, but whenever I need new ideas I start with Google. Now, google has a much more “business” approach to finding things. It doesn’t always give me great new marketing or design ideas, but it does show me what a lot of other brands are doing. It’s always a good idea to have a base line to start off from. Plus, searching on Google helps me to make sure that my product or design stands out among the rest of them.

2. Behance or Designspiration

The next place I like to search, is Behance or Designspiration. It is in the exact opposite direction of Google (which gives a more of a logical approach), and goes to the extreme artistic side of things. Most of the projects you will find on these sites are not campaigns or marketing materials. They are however, great places to check out different trends going on in the artistic world. This can help you figure out what direction you may want to take a project. I find myself seeing things done in ways I might not have thought. Seeing certain elements or textures that I really like, can give me inspiration to pull from.

3. The Design Blog

Another place I enjoy getting inspiration is from design blogs. One of my favorite blogs is The Design Blog. This is a great place to really focus in more on what you are specifically looking for, such as branding, advertising, print design and many more examples. You can also find a lot of freebies on blogs like this one, that might save you some time in the future.

4. How, Print & Communication Arts Magazines

A great place to get inspiration, especially if you are working on printed materials is by flipping through magazines. Things really are designed differently when they are printed, opposed to just seeing them online. It creates a different feel for the consumer. Personally, I love seeing what sort of ads a magazine has, how an article is laid out in a unique way and what kind of images are used. You can really find inspiration from any magazine, but my favorites are HOW, PRINT and Communication Arts.

5. Pinterest

My favorite place to go when I need inspiration is on Pinterest. I have come across so many people who have never thought to use Pinterest for marketing inspiration. They think it’s only great for DYI projects, but the truth is that they have some great marketing and design inspo. So many people pin items from their portfolios, or interesting facts and infographics they find. It’s a great place to see what types of things are trending and hopefully stir up some creativity.

There are so many different websites that are used to get inspired; share some of your favorite places with us!

Aug 24
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Rebranding

Do You Need to Rebrand Your Practice?

By | Consulting, Marketing | No Comments

Branding often becomes an afterthought when a marketing budget is stretched too thin. Patient kits, signage, radio spots and even logos are to often quickly thrown together and become an unsteady foundation for your brand. There are three major signs that signal it’s time to rebrand your practice:

Your brand makes no promise.

What does your brand communicate to your patients or network? Does it communicate reputability and trust? Or does it scream amateur and cheap? Patients need to know that your practice is professional and dependable. You will continue to face an upward battle if your brand makes no promise.

A strong brand will tell patients something about the practice before they even interact with it.

Your brand is inconsistently implemented across all mediums.

Over time inconsistencies in how you present your practice will dilute your brand. Take a look across all of your marketing efforts. Are they clearly consistent with design and the overall brand promise? If your marketing doesn’t share a common denominator, this would be an excellent time to examine your brand structure and dive into rebranding your practice… potentially from scratch.

Your branding doesn’t represent your practice.

Like most businesses, your practice has likely grown and evolved over several years. Maybe even your services have evolved and expanded. But has your brand followed suit? Then maybe your practice has outgrown its brand without you realizing it. When a current brand ceases to represent a practice, or to speak to patients in a meaningful way, it’s time to give rebranding serious consideration.

Get a fresh start sooner than later.

Take a fresh look at your brand and see what it says about your practice. An outdated or amateur brand is like a ball and chain… holding your practice in place, or slowing its brand evolution down significantly. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that keeping your old brand will equate to a higher profit margin.  Just think about how much more success your practice may have with a stronger brand.

 

Aug 17
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5 Steps to the Ultimate LASIK Consultation

By | Consulting, Marketing | No Comments

Struggling converting LASIK patients? We’ve all been there. You work so hard to finally get them through the door to have a consult, only to find yourself with an empty surgery schedule. Hope is not lost.

Streamline your LASIK consultation process and fast track your practice to success following the 5 steps to the ultimate LASIK consultation. We’ll cover everything from the importance of patient education materials, to the presentation of the price, and even the powerful interaction with the surgeon. Simply click here to download your guide today.

Need more consulting tips to get your practice in shape? Check out 8 Habits of Highly Effective Practices & Minutes to Make an Impact: How to Maximize Patient Interaction with a Surgeon to See Improved Conversions.

Aug 11
2

Instagram Checklist

By | Consulting, Marketing, Social Media | No Comments

It’s no secret, Instagram is doing great things for brands in every industry. According to HubSpot, there are over 400 million active users on Instagram. Fifty-nine percent of these users are using the platform daily.

If you are looking to connect with a millennial audience, look no further. With over half of millennials using Instagram every single day, you are missing a huge opportunity to engage with this audience if you aren’t an active user. Why not leverage Instagram to create the exposure your brand needs?

Even with all the buzz, you might still have your doubts about jumping into this visual social platform. To take some of the guesswork out of Instagram, we created this printable checklist for Instagram success. 

Instagram Checklist

 

Instagram Check List

Aug 03
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Why you Need a Responsive Website

By | Consulting, Web Design | No Comments

Responsive web design is an approach to web design, that allows desktop webpages to be viewed in response to the size of the device one is viewing with. This means that the content you are viewing should look the same on your desktop computer, laptop, tablet and smartphone. If you don’t understand why you need a responsive website, check out a few tips that explain how a responsive website could be the best approach for your business.

1. People have gone mobile

Just a few short years ago, we saw a shift in how the average user accesses the internet. In 2015, the average time a user spent on the internet on a mobile device has jumped up to 2.8 hours out of 5.6 hours. That makes a total of 51% of time online is spent on a mobile device. As this trend continues to rise, it is important to meet the needs of your website visitors. If your site is not displaying properly on mobile devices, you are not providing a positive experience for your audience.

2. Provide users the best possible experience

One way to provide the best experience for a user, is to ensure that they are familiar with your site. Navigating the layout of your page should be consistent, regardless of users going from mobile to desktop. By building a responsive site, you don’t have to worry about different devices changing the overall experience for your users.

3. Save time

When you build a responsive website, you won’t have to worry about building and maintaining different websites for mobile and desktop. When you need to make updates, they will only need to be made on a single platform. This eliminates the worry of forgetting to make the changes on more than one site.

4. Search engines prefer responsive

In many studies experts have found that responsive websites rank better than similar non-responsive sites. You want people to find you online quick and easy right? By building a responsive website, you will be helping the major search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing direct traffic to you. This makes your chance of getting conversions substantially higher.

5. Save Money

Piggy backing on saving time, you also save money! It may be a bit more expensive up front to hire an expert designer to build your site, but it will mean less time and money spent in the long term. Updates to only one site, instead of across multiple platforms, significantly brings down the costs of website maintenance.