Best Time To Post To Twitter

As someone who advises people on their blogs, people often ask me "When is the best time to post to my blog" and now with the emergence of Twitter (micro-blogging) "When should I post to twitter."

I did a little research on Twitter and, yep, sure enough, it's pretty much the same answer for Twitter as for Blogging.

Best traffic days are TUESDAY through FRIDAY. If you post updates those days, you'll have highest exposure for re-tweets and shares, just like your blog.

Best time periods are between 10am PST and 2PM PST. This is because that's the highest period of people online to access your content, and their highest period of usage.

Now, that does not mean you shouldn't post during other times; however. I'll tell you why.

If you assume that the person who reads their blog posts and twitter updates is always online at 7:00 a.m., then you're assuming that everyone is a morning person. At the same time, if you assumed that the person who reads blogs and tweets is up at 1:00 a.m. because they're a night owl, then you'll miss the morning people. So, my advice is to post twitter tweets THROUGHOUT the DAY.

There is powerful software to help you post multiple times a day. It used to be called "Tweetlater.com" and now is called SocialOomph. Check it out - there's a PRO version that gives you even more control, and if you're going to be professional about sending email welcomes, and want to add other twitter management features, then upgrade and pay the money. Otherwise, the free version is fine for just tweeting later.

In addition, if you, like me, are busy and can't find time every week to add each follower to your twitter, one, by one, by one (tedious, huh) then I suggest you use Tweepular software, that let's you bulk add big chunks of Tweeps at a time. (Yeah, that's what they call Twitter users: TWEEPS). So, happy Twitting, Tweep!
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$190-Million Antibody

Are you working on an antibody? Perhaps you have a company focused on bio tech solutions, and either need help with your launch, business growth, or perhaps even an infusion of cash.

Whichever the case, ARRiiVE Business Solutions might be able to help. I'll share a crazy story that just might inspire you to contact me:

While updating my Facebook self help group (AspireNow), Facebook offered me a chance to type in "captcha" words proving I'm human and not a spam-bot. Normally, these words are totally random and mean little or nothing.

But these two words stood out like a total "aha" moment to me:

$190-Million Antibody

I decided to act upon this information. I posted a discussion group at AspireNow. And, now, I'm posting an ARRiiVE article inviting people working on antibody solutions to contact me.

Now, mind you, I've never worked on an antibody. I don't really know that much about science. In fact, science is probably my education weak spot (although I've been working to strengthen that knowledge). But, as someone who helps people launch products, companies, and services (see ARRiiVE.com), this one stood out.

Perhaps a scientist is going to approach me in the next month, quarter, or year with an idea for an antibody that will help cure a disease or something. Or, perhaps a company will contact me to help them grow to the next level. Maybe they haven't launched yet, and need soup-to-nuts help to get off the ground. Whatever the case, $190 Million is nothing to sneeze at, no pun intended! Therefore, you're reading about it.

What random events of manifesting dreams are happening around you? Are you paying attention? Join my discussion on random events either over at AspireNow's Facebook group and share your experiences! Or, just comment on this article.

I know, it's a bit random and wacky, but isn't life like that sometimes?
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Twitter: They Just Don't Get It

Without naming names, here is evidence of what I'll call the most FOOLISH people on TWITTER, ever:


This chart was snapped using my trusty FastStone Capture software off a website called TWITTERHOLIC. In case you're wondering what this "list" is all about, well, it basically shows who has the most followers, friends, and who POSTS the most. I focused this shot on who posts the most. Now, you'd think the people who post the most would be movie stars, stations like NPR, or maybe even Yoko Ono (who does have quite a few followers for her peace movement). But no, the truth is, the people posting hundreds of thousands of TWEETS are random people and companies who I've never heard of before. They're probably using auto-tweet software to post that much, but regardless, with only 1 - 40 followers, doesn't it seem stupid to you to post that much? To have between 1 and 3,000 followers and tweet 500,000 times is nothing less than SPAM, in my opinion, and certainly not the way to market anything of value. Yet, the top 10 in the list of "top tweeters" all are between 1 and 5,000 followers, without exception.

You'd think they'd get, it, after especially the first 100 tweets or so. At least, after 1,000 twitter updates, they ought to realize that (a) yes, I have an audience, or (b) no, I don't and I'm talking to THIN AIR! Seriously.

If this is how your company is marketing, I suggest you fire your marketing director!

So, what is a better way to manage Twitter?

The people with the most success on twitter seem to use a ratio. I'll share it with you here:

1/5 to 1/10 for the average business person, Internet marketer and 1/1,000 the number of "tweets" to number of followers if you're a celebrity. That's it. If you're tweeting more than that, without building your list, you're likely not providing VALUE high enough to warrant the followers at the right levels. It's all about VALUE, right?

For example, a minor God of Internet Marketing, Frank Kern, currently has 1,576 tweets and 16, 817 followers (as of September 16, 2009). That works out to roughly 1/10 tweet to follower ratio. Chris Brogan, on the other hand, has 49,314 tweets to 98,184 followers. Roughly 1/2... okay, that skews my theory a little. But let's view a corporate account, like IBMdesign: 970 to 5188 or about 1/5... HP News: 1581 to 7436, or 1/6...

Now, how about a celebrity, like the #1 celebrity twitter, Aston Kutcher?

3,592,888 followers as of this writing. That, with a total of 3,366 tweets. Amazing, huh? That ratio is crazy: 1/1000. But, guess what? It is typical of celebrity tweet to follower ratios! I was shocked, too. They really don't have to work that hard to have people love them, do they! ;)

My friend Guy Kawasaki, a notable business author, speaker, entrepreneur, and former Apple Mac evangelist: As of September 16, 2009, Guy has 171,249 followers and 30,096 tweet updates. Again, there's that 1/5 - 1/6 ratio. And, I consider Guy pretty active.

Robert Scoble is one of the most respected technology reporters. What is his ratio of tweets to followers? 23,733 tweets to 95,479 followers, or a .24 ratio. In other words, a 4 to 1.

You might be asking, "Why does all this matter?" Well, considering Aston Kutcher not too long ago gained his one millionth follower and Oprah, of all people, just sent her first tweet in the past year (although she already has over two million followers), there's a huge range of those using Twitter and those who couldn't care less.

Now, as for my theory of 1/10 to 1/100, well, ARRiiVE is not yet publishing at that ratio. One of the reasons is I've automatically "twitted" my blog posts without bothering to build traffic. The reason is because I only recently (as in today) decided to start targeting growing my twitter list. I'll mark this date and see if my strategy makes sense.

As of today, I have 93 followers and 183 tweet updates. Watch this change now that I've targeted adding twitter followers as an active campaign. I'll report in on the growth in about three to six months.

Okay, let's digress for a minute. If I say you're downright stupid to post 400,000 tweets when you only have 4 or 40 friends, why would I say that? Well, because you're wasting time. You're talking to nobody. And wasting time is almost always stupid. Time, after all, is our number one resource. Wouldn't it make sense to tweet to a huge list, say, at least 40,000, before tweeting 400,000 times? After all, doesn't it take TIME and ENERGY to post that often?

So, before twitting away like crazy, I suggest you build your list. But even before that, I suggest you RESEARCH the top tools to know how to best MAXIMIZE Twitter, especially if you're a corporate or celebrity twitter user.

Here's an excellent resource from Mashable regarding top 10 enterprise twitter tools: http://mashable.com/2009/08/17/enterprise-twitter-tools/

Review each of these tools. Here they are, simplified:

1. Forrester social profile - learn the demographics of who follows your site: http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html

2. According to the Mashable article, listen before you engage: Radian6 and Techrigy’s SM2 offer tools to help businesses find out where their customers are really talking. It’s important to figure out which social media tools your customers are using before you begin planning a social media campaign. Listen first before you engage."

3. Use HootSuite or CoTweet to give you the capability to have multiple twitter users feed content into one corporate twitter account. Also, you can use it to "test market" tweet topics to determine which topic best resounds with your audience. HootSuite also gives you the ability to schedule your tweets, something I'm a huge fan of because there are optimum days and times to tweet posts. HootSuite appears to be free, I just joined it today, myself.

4. For the desktop, the two most popular clients among enterprise users are probably TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop, which also give multi-user tweet capability.

Make sure to read more about each of these at the Mashup article.

Regarding other ways to maximize your traffic (add followers), try these top five methods I'm using:

1. Target adding other people with huge lists. Why? Because Twitter offers a feature called RT, or "Re-Tweet" meaning, someone felt your tweet worthy to share with others. When followers RT your tweets, THEIR list gets exposed to your stream of posts, links, and updates, and then those followers can easily ADD you. It's as simple as that.

2. Follow me, follow you. Make sure you have an "auto-follow" feature added so that you automatically follow anyone who adds you. Why? Because people who use auto-adders often will un-list you if you do not add them. Why fight it? Just add them, it boosts the total number of eyeballs who MIGHT see your posts, and that is all that matters in the social media game of numbers, anyway, right?

3. Add value. How do we make our twits valuable? Well, it is like anything online:

• Give information - how to, related "finds", tidbits relevant to your enterprise, ideally
• Be witty or funny - people who make us laugh are attractive
• Tell a story - believe it or not, your twits can tell a story if you use them effectively
• Use clever headlines. If you don't know how to write good COPY, I suggest you either start learning how to write clever headlines, or hire someone who can.
  

4. Use a tool, like Twittergetter. Another powerful tool is to place a "follow me" or "twitter badge" on your blog or website.

5. Put a "www.twitter.com/arriive" in your email signature, and many people will follow you that way, too.

Let me know how you're using Twitter with your social media strategy.
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Sell What Your Clients Need Most

If your business is struggling to make sales, you're probably asking your self or your sales team "What's wrong? Why aren't we making the sales we need to hit our objectives?"

The answer to this question may be varied, with such challenges as:
1. The economy sucks.
2. Our product is confusing to customers.
3. Our prices are too high.
4. They don't have the money.
and so on...

Are you buying the excuses? In most cases, the reasons why you've stopped selling have little to do with the excuses and everything to do with your PERSPECTIVE and FOCUS.

With the right perspective and focus, your salespeople don't have to be Pedott from the classic The Twilight Zone episode entitled, "What You Need", where Pedott is a salesperson who hands each character in the show exactly what they need to catch a bus, get a job, save their life, and so on.

For example, if you say "the economy sucks" you could stop putting out the same effort you did in an average or good economy, which would cause your business to stop selling even more than the lack of economy. If you run the numbers and the economy is truly affecting your business, then lower your expenses as low as possible to still make it with adjusted economy, and then continue as aggressive as ever because a down economy is an OPPORTUNITY for salespeople who are creative to capture larger market share from those who fail to respond and manage their business appropriately.

If your product is confusing, simplify it. Customers buy when it is SIMPLE and EASY. Again, this is a perspective issue. If you're educating the potential client and offering too many choices, narrow it down and offer them TWO or THREE CHOICES. But keep it SIMPLE.

If your prices are higher, that may be a problem, but more than likely it is a problem of the salesperson than the problem with your product. IBM routinely charges more for their products than their competition. How do they do it? By SELLING what their clients NEED MOST! For example, when a Chief Information Officer (CIO) of a large corporation is considering a new mainframe computer system, when comparing the choice of IBM versus competitor A, who offers the same mainframe (as far as speeds and feeds go) for less price, or competitor B who offers a better mainframe for slightly higher cost, or competitor C who offers a distributed computing approach across multiple computers for significantly less money, how is it that IBM wins?

The answer is that IBM sells what the CIO needs the most: PEACE OF MIND. You've heard the expression "They say nobody ever got fired for buying IBM." The reason for that saying is that the CEO has peace-of-mind that IBM will keep their business running if anything goes wrong. That's what matters most to the CEO, and that also is priority number one for most Chief Information Officers, too.

As CEO of a much smaller company, I can assure you that I'm quite unhappy when my business' server is down. If I cannot send or receive email, it is a nightmare. I can only imagine how the CEO of a larger corporation sees the dollar signs flashing by the thousands in his or her glasses when their system is down!

If you're selling a vacation package, what are you really selling that client's need? Most likely more time with their loved ones, better health, rejuvenation, seeing the world/exploring cultures, living the good life, and things like that, right? So, don't focus on the details of YOUR program, focus on the details of WHAT THEY NEED.

If you're selling banking services, what is it your clients need the most? Most likely, they want easy access, better rates, security that their money is safe, and so forth. I also like to have NO FEES. If I'm late, if I'm overdrawn, if I forgot to transfer that chunk of money from one bank to the other, whatever, I don't want to be penalized for it. I hate bank fees. If I were running a bank, I'd eliminate most of those fees! Maybe you charge more for a monthly account or whatever but find out what your client's need and sell them that solution.

In an interesting study on whether clients "have the money" or "don't have the money to buy" a company I worked with determined that clients "HAD THE MONEY TO BUY" over 80% of the time, but decided NOT to buy because of some other reason (the salesperson was either annoying, failed to listen, or failed to sell what they needed that interested them).

So, sell what your clients need most and see if your sales don't go up, starting right now.

Extra Bonus Video:

For fun, watch The Twilight Zone, 1st Season, Episode 12:

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ARRiiVE Business Solutions offers sales training, acting VP of Business Development services, sales plans, Diamond-Circle and Sales-Diamond Team Structure models, and other marketing and selling related services. Contact info (at) ARRiiVE (dot) come for more details.

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ARRiiVE Radio: Rabbits, Deer & Elephants

The ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show is BACK!


Episode 76 - ARRiiVE Show - Rabbits, Deer & Elephants!


Mark your calendar:

When: July 29, 2009 at 5PM EST / 2PM PST (length 30 - 60 minutes)

It's back! Join Scott, CEO of the ARRiiVE Business Solutions, on the ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Show, as he describes a way to make selling more fun through the concept of Rabbits, Deer, and Elephants he created from his Concepts of Selling sales training program.

About Scott: Scott is an author, speaker, and professional business development expert who is often called a master of the sales process, cold calling, and building sales teams. His background includes "Summit Club" levels of success with IBM/Lexmark, Data General, EMC2, DecisionOne, Sunterra (now Diamond Resorts), Worldmark by Wyndham, Elements Inc., and more. Scott currently helps organizations write business plans, build strategy, develop sales process, and launch products and services through a variety of marketing services. He also is the creator of the business and team models called Diamond-Circle and Sales Diamond models of business success.

How to Participate: Call (724) 444-7444, enter show 37798 # 1 #
Visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798 to participate online.

Look forward to seeing (hearing) you on the show!
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Symbolize Your Success: A Lesson From Nabisco

Business launch quiz of the month:


Q: What does a circle, a cross, and a four-leaf clover have in common?


A: They are the symbols held within the design on top of every OREO cookie sold.

To date, human beings have eaten over 18 billion Nabisco Biscuit Company OREO cookies. Clearly, Oreo cookies are a success, by any standard.

Does the recipe of the creme filled chocolate biscuits matter? Sure. But how about the symbols they chose on each cookie?


I recently read an article by Tima Vlasto (The Examiner), published July 14, 2009, that digs into a possible holistic secret to Nabisco's success with Oreo cookies. Tima claims the Oreo name, which possibly means "mound" or "beauty and goodness" surrounded by symbols of "infinity and unity" and the communication cross perhaps a "communicating a crusade" of "good luck" to each person who shares the fun.

I actually have another viewpoint on this important logo, which is originally comprising a cross-shape with two bars of unequal lengths (shaped in a pyramid) atop an elliptical-shaped circle.

First of all, Nabisco promotional materials (from Nabisco's website, according to Wikipedia) claimed that the logo represented "an early European symbol for quality; it may be derived from a medieval Italian printer's mark that represented 'the triumph of the moral and good over the evil and worldly.'"

You'll notice this logo of the double cross, with different lengths on cross-bars, and the circle, is in the Oreo cookie, but Nabisco replaces the word NABISCO with OREO in the middle of the Oreo cookie. But let's take a closer look.

First, the name OREO. According to the article by Wikipedia, the origins of the name can be traced to "gold" and yes, "hill or mound" and the Greek word OREO, which means "beautiful" or "nice'. So, the name offers a positive connotation.

Second, the circle, which surrounds the name Oreo. In the article, Tima mentions that a circle is a symbol of unity. That's nice, but when I study logos, I've always maintained that circles indicate change. In fact, the very shape of Oreo cookies is round, therefore, indicating you'll be changed by eating one.

But, digging deeper in studying circles, I found an interesting image:

In this 13th century image, you find the act of creation symbolized by the circle (as a compass). Keep in mind, this is an era where icons definitely held meaning for believers. There is also a pattern shaped almost like a mandala contained within the compass. I also noticed the halo, also shaped like a circle. So, the circle can have many mystical meanings, including change, circle of life, creation, and so on. A circle may also mean infinity.

The Patriarchal Orthodox cross, a symbol of holy Jesus, or the cross of Lorraine, an early symbol dating to Joan of Arc, became incorporated into the cookie as part of Nabisco's logo in the 1950's, some thirty to forty years after the original cookie was created to offer the British a more exciting cookie to dip in their coffee or tea. The symbol as I evaluate it means 'perseverance" which can certainly be said of both Nabisco (through Kraft) and Oreo cookies. They've been around now for a hundred years! It could also mean holy, as in saintly, but I wouldn't go that far as to say I'm a saint for eating a box of double-stuffs!

Then again, a conspiracy theorist's interpretation of that cross is the "Pontifical Cross of Lucifer which is linked with Satanism and [apparently] possibly Freemasonry" which is possibly partly true. Another video I've seen says Oreo cookies are "illuminati cookies" and shows the symbols of the crosses and connects them to masonic ceremonies. Upon my understanding of the bankers that rule this world, this assertion is possibly quite correct, as the founder of Nabisco was said to be a member of a banking family connected to the Rothchild family. However, the pontifical cross is equal-length bars and second, that cross is not necessarily representative of Lucifer, either. An analysis of cross symbols brings up religion and occult so that connection is suspect.

You could say a cross represents evil because so many heavy metal bands use crosses as "reverse" imagery today. However, I dispute that theory, as the particular cross on the Oreo is the Patriarchal Cross, which is the cross of the Orthodox church, a holy symbol. And, yes, although many of the founding fathers in America were said to be Freemasons it would have been popular for a business leader to join that organization, too.

The Freemason connection could mean that the founder of Nabisco was a Freemason and therefore plugged into the "big business" establishment of his day. Therefore, they were putting a symbol on their cookie to show they were part of the "in" crowd with the establishment, too. Big business is, well, big business for a reason. Looking at the clover and inverted clover patterns on the cookie, it is clearly possible that the "reverse clover" design on the cookie is actually a masonic symbol of the "Maltese cross" shown in this link. What relevance that has with eating a cookie is, well, questionable. Perhaps it was simply good for business?

The four-leaf clover is a symbol of good luck and definitely considered a rare find. However, there is a deeper meaning as I examine each petal, historically, represented hope, faith, love, and luck. I like that meaning even more. So, in eating each cookie, you could really hope to have the very best in life, right?

Last, a circle can represent unity. But a circle also represents "change" of some sort. So, by eating an Oreo cookie, you can expect the unity of perseverance, beauty, hope, faith, love, and luck, and hopefully to be changed by eating one.

I would say Nabisco was trying to combine symbols of holy, good, luck, business success, and health into their cookie, by evaluating all of the symbols used by them on this small wafer sandwich.

It is fun to study symbols. If you haven't studied symbols before creating your own business logo, I strongly encourage you to do so. Or, hire an expert to help you understand what symbols might best represent your own organization or product.

I've always loved Oreo cookies. And, as you know, with our Diamond-Circle model, ARRiiVE is on our own crusade to change the way business is done in the world - from a numbers, top-down oriented approach, to a holistic, inside-out approach in how we manage people. We're finding in the companies we help launch that the model works quite well when implemented properly. Find out for yourself: contact us to learn how to implement the Diamond-Circle model in your business.
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Why Losing Your Job Can Be Good For You

I just watched the Steve Jobs' commencement speech at Stanford from 2005:




One of the comments Steve makes is how when he got fired from Apple, it was a blessing in disguise. He points out at 7:15 "I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter into one of the most creative periods of my life. During the next five years I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, and I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance, and Lorene and I have a wonderful family together."

Did you lose your job recently? During a recession or difficult time in an industry, many people struggling with losing a job, as companies downsize their employee payroll to make ends meet. You may be one of them. Then again, entire companies go out of business during those times. At other times, the position you occupied may not have offered the right fit you and your growth. Or, perhaps, you did not deliver up to your hiring process courtship promises. Whichever, don't fret, because that job is now your PAST. What's important is what you do TODAY and in THE FUTURE.

If you are doing what you LOVE, you will find a way to SUCCEED. Your work fills a large part of your life. So, do what is great work. Steve continues "the only way to do great work is to LOVE what you do" and encourages the graduates to keep looking, don't settle. I believe what we do must also provide HIGH VALUE to others. So, what do you do that you love and that produces high value to other people?

If you're reading this, you've most likely traveled far from graduation. You're perhaps thinking "what now?" Well, if you've had a great idea inside you, but have been sitting on the fence, wondering when is the right time to launch that idea into a business, perhaps now is that time. I made a similar choice back in 2001, when I left EMC2 and turned down a job with Hewlett-Packard that promised $18K a month to make $0 with AspireNow, my first company. It was a costly decision, but in the end, I'm happier, and everything I am doing now came from that leap of faith, and essentially losing that job opportunity then. AspireNow continues to produce passive income on a monthly basis, and ARRiiVE Business Solutions, which launched out of AspireNow, is now providing exciting business launch services to terrific clients.

Recently, I relaunched ARRiiVE Business Solutions as a full-time endeavor. This came from a "job" turning from a job into a consulting assignment. Now, I am free to do as I wish, but also still working with my previous company to help them continue to launch their software. However, this turn of events also freed me to help launch several new amazing and promising companies.

What can you do to turn a "lemon" of a job situation into "lemonade" in your life?

If you need help launching your business, I suggest you work with a coach or business launch specialist who has been there, done that, and been through the challenges of failure and success. Find someone with whom you identify, and start building a team. Believe in your dream, seize upon the hope of what you love the most, surround yourself with other successful people, and then go for it with all you've got within you!
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ARRiiVE Business Solutions offers business development coaching, "acting" VP of Business Development/Sales, business launch creative marketing, and sales training services. To learn more call 805-459-6939 for an initial discussion about how I might help you with your endeavor, or email info (at) ARRiiVE (dot) com.
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Review: Using HUDDLE For Collaboration

I recently discovered a new tool for personal or business collaboration: HUDDLE.

Huddle is useful for online collaboration, project management, and document sharing using social networking principles.

The online collaboration tool Huddle offer you the ability to:
1. Organize a group or team more easily.
2. Brainstorm via the use of white boards (just as we would off-line).
3. Create, capture, and edit documents and valuable files.
4. Communicate effectively across teams. This includes leaving messages, and getting/giving approval for various tasts and projects.
5. Manage to-do lists.
6. Network more effectively off of your social networking platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn (the two I'm using the most, besides MySpace).

Huddle is an effectively simple online tool to help you maximize your interactions with projects and teams. Although Huddle offers each team member the ability to manage projects, easily share and store files (even really large ones) online, quickly create or edit Word and Excel documents online, have group discussions, and more. What I love about Huddle is the "white board" sharing space and ease of use. This makes so much more sense to me than Google Groups' reply to all function that is frequently misused by my band members. Huddle may also be used as a client extranet - something I'll be exploring for ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

For my work with ARRiiVE and AspireNow, where I publish information frequently, my team now posts their work for review on Huddle, where I can edit, suggest changes, and approve projects. I can connect freelancers to my core team and manage the entire edition from a single spot - critical for a small business like ARRiiVE and AspireNow.

I've been using Basecamp, but feel that Huddle offers more functionality for the money. As both a Facebook and LinkedIn user, I'd like to drive more functionality out of my networks. Huddle's add-on extension applications for those social network platforms just might be the ticket to accomplish that objective.

For my new SLOJazzFest.org charity, we can use Huddle to share plans, documents and photography with our partners, suppliers and agencies. We can brainstorm new ideas on a whiteboard and get everyone involved. I like that I can control the group by assigning user priveleges and track their actions. We'll eliminate wasting time, too.

I intend to use Huddle for ARRiiVE, AspireNow, and SLOJazzFest.org... maybe even band stuff, although I use GoogleGroups and MySpace for the band, now.

Are you using Huddle? How is it working for you?
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Elements of Great Logo Design

I've been designing logos since founding AspireNow.com back in 2000. I remember it started with an idea. After brainstorming on the idea, I started drawing logo designs by hand. I then worked with a graphic designer to turn the hand drawings into a usable graphic image. She added a couple of cool things. Then, once the logo was designed, I created the website. So many times, you can't really launch your product, service, or company until you have a solid logo.

Are you seeking a logo right now?

Elements of great logo design include the following features:

1. Instantly recognizable.
2. Appropriate.
3. Scalable.

1. Instantly recognizable. This is where most graphic designers get too fancy and blow it. They create something hard to figure out and therefore lose the audience. The image must be memorable to be a great logo. In order to be memorable, it usually must be SIMPLE. Too many logos clutter up what they're saying with too many elements of design. Keep it simple and people will remember the logo longer.

2. Appropriate. There are several aspects of "appropriate" that matter. First, the image and font convey the right "feeling" for the product, service, or company. By feeling, I mean the image conveys the right message. For example, technology often uses "shutters" or open spaces cut into the logo, such as with IBM. AT&T uses shutters. Banks often use rectangular images, with pillars, both of these shapes convey stability. We want to know our money is in a stable place, right? So, both of those types of techniques for those industries are "appropriate" for the logo.

3. Scalable. By scalable, the logo image ought to look good in color or black and white, and it ought to look good at any size.

My first logo design was AspireNow:

Many people commented how they liked the playfulness of the logo, as well as the shadow, which gave the image depth. I've been toying with the idea of updating this logo. What do you think? Will it stand the test of time or would it be wise to update this logo?

The latest logos I designed were for the SLO Jazz Festival and the musical band BODY:

The SLO Jazz Festival to me needed to (a) feel festive, (b) convey the words of the festival, (c) feel traditional, yet modern, and (d) convey music. So, I used the treble clef to convey music. The font conveys the feeling of a traditional festival. The SLOJAZZFEST.ORG font is more modern and feels fun. The logo could be printed in any color and still look good, too.
The key elements in the logo for the band, BODY, including conveying an image that left a feeling of the band being solid, accomplished with the square shape enclosing the D and Y; yet open, accomplished with the black on white part of the logo; yet not complete, as with the D not being wrapped in the black square, as bands usually change their music and songs over time. BODY needs to hold up to the test of time. In addition, the font and colors needed to feel contemporary. Black & White in a logo is both timeless and contemporary. I could just as easily put two other colors and I'm sure the band will play with that idea in the future. I'm currently working on an additional SYMBOL of just a body that could also be just as recognizable as this font-based logo. I'll share it when I get it completed from drawing into graphic form for computer (in process).

If you like the designs I create, why not see if I can help you with your logo?

I'm not the cheapest logo designer around, but I do tend to create images that leave a lasting impression, are appropriate and convey the right image and feeling, as well as scalable in both design and color.
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Successfully Launching the SLO Jazz Festival

We've been busy launching many new projects this past year. We've helped launch a software product, as a software as a service (SAAS), for Elements. We've also launched several new websites, designed a few flyers, created several logos, written a handful of business plans, and helped quite a few companies get more traffic to their website(s).

The most recent project and website I'd like to share with you is the SLOJazzFest.org.

(above) SLO Jazz Festival (slojazzfest.org) official logo designed by ARRiiVE Business Solutions

We held our first event on March 13, 2009. It was called the SLO Winter Funk Festival and is one of only a handful of funk festivals across the United States - or even in the World, for that matter. The objective of SLO Jazz Festival is to build a world class festival and series of "awareness building" events throughout each year. These festivals are held in San Luis Obispo, CA (SLO).

(above) Magma Funk playing at the SLO Winter Funk Festival.
Photo Credit to Michael Ackerman www.ackermanarts.com

The next event for the SLO Jazz Festival will be the SLO Summer Soul and World Music Festival on June 13, 2009, at the Mission Plaza in San Luis Obispo. Details are available at www.slojazzfest.org. The SLO Jazz Festival is planned for September 17 - 19, 2009, and will feature a "Beyond Jazz" "SWING Out of Summer" and "Hot Havana Night - Salsa" nights with dance contests and more.

If you're launching a product or service, why not contact us to determine if there is a fit for us to help you with your business launch:

1. Business Plan
2. Logo
3. Business Strategy
4. Flyer or Brochure
5. Website
6. Business Cards
7. Getting traffic (SEO) for your website
8. Building sales strategy and sales teams
9. General consulting

These are all organization launch services we've proven, time and again, to deliver for clients successfully.

We look forward to hearing from you about how we can help you launch your company, product, service, or organization!
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Copyright © 1999-2009 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.

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