Welcome
Posted on | January 4, 2010 | View Comments
Welcome to the Blog Section of the site. This blog is for the Do-it-yourself business owner. I will share my experience and expertise to help you with your business. If you like what I offer or need help let me know.
2009 saw the passing of a lot of design and marketing firms. Freelancers have poured onto the scene like lemmings into a river. Niched marketers and designers have generalized, generalist have niched into other areas, and there is a general free for all in the design and marketing world. Everything is changing.
New Generation of Marketer is Needed
I appreciate the history of the Ad Agency. The place you went to help you market your idea/product or service.
This age of technology and have set ourselves to stay at the top of the wave of new ideas, innovations, and technologies. The web and mobile devices have taken the places of traditional TV and Printed Newspapers and Magazines. The days of spending marketing and advertising dollars to “shotgun” the message to the blank public and not really knowing what sticks, is on it’s way out. Analytics, tracking, search engine optimization, social networking, comprehensive holistic marketing and accountability to your clients should be the new focus. These concepts aren’t new, but the tools and the means are new.
This is where we work, live and breath.
Enjoy the site.
~J
Simple Guide: FaceBook Fan Pages
Posted on | June 9, 2010 | View Comments
This is a part of a series of “Simple Guides” we will create to help people with various social networking sites.
FaceBook Fan Pages Introduction:
FaceBook is one of the top social networking sites. It allows users to create custom profiles and associate with other people through a variety of options. To learn more about FaceBook, check out our FaceBook guide. (Coming Soon)
FaceBook Fan Pages allows businesses, groups, individuals, and others create a custom profile for their product, service, group, or brand. This page is managed by the creator and appointed administrators. Read more
Google gets Caffeine
Posted on | June 9, 2010 | View Comments
Google just announced the completion of a new web indexing system called Caffeine.
The system is going to be able to index pages at faster rate, providing fresher results.
This new system will also be able to index more information in less time. This will shorten the time your website’s content makes it into Google’s engine.
What does this mean for you or your business?
It’s another opportunity for businesses to compete with the big brands online. Google loves new and fresh content. So if you can keep your Social Media and Blogs up, you have a chance to get in front of people that are looking for your service as the newest information will be more available.
Call to action:
Post new content to your blog or social network and do it regularly. Make sure you have systems in place to get your messages out.
If you need help, you can always Give Us a Shout!
FaceBook Tools
Posted on | May 20, 2010 | View Comments
Here are some tool to utilize FaceBook a little better.
Custom FaceBook URL:
http://www.facebook.com/username/
If you have a personal account use the link above after you setup your FaceBook account.
If you have a Fan Page your the admin for you need to have 25 fans to be able to claim a custom URL.
Note: Once you pick a name that’s it! It’s a one shot, no change choice.
If you manage multiple pages, you need to make sure you choose the options for the page you want to set a custom URL.
Link You FaceBook to Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/twitter/index.php
You can link your FaceBook (and Fan Page ) to Twitter. It will ask you to sign into Twitter. If you manage multiple pages watch which page and Twitter account you link too.
Include your Friends and FanPages in postings:
When you want to include a FanPage or Friend in a post use the at symbol “@” and the persons name. As you type it you will see a small window under the box with the names and pages you already associate with. Click the name you want. The benefit of this is you message will now be included in the timeline for those friends and pages.
Pricing a Website
Posted on | January 18, 2010 | View Comments
The internet has many options for website design and functionality, pricing ranges from free to thousands of dollars. If you know what you want from the start, it is possible to save tons of money and time by narrowing your choices, or delegating to a credible source. If you don’t know what you want, just like any other product, you have to buy and try, buy and try. Different people approach this in different ways. I tend to research a lot and then go ahead and drop the money to try something I believe will be a worthwhile investment, even at a higher cost. Some people would rather drop a few dollars and try a lower quality item (which in my mind may not represent very well anyway) and then refine their options before investing more.
Certainly, you can pay any number of elusive someones $13 to put together a template (which you could get for free, if you knew how to navigate the industry). but, depending on how fast your business is growing, this will need updating later. This is one strategy. Another is to hire a specialist (consultant) to tell you what you need. The liability in this is trust! You will be on a faster track to efficiency and equitable marketing online, but you may have to compromise some things you thought you wanted. Trust is not easy for some, especially do-it-all-yourself business owners. Delegation is a strength and does not suit all.
Want control? Go to your local community college and enroll in a basic web building class and add building a website to your long list of to-dos. Either way, you put out money and time.
Sitemap
Posted on | January 17, 2010 | View Comments
This is a simple guide for setting up a site-map. More elaborate websites will need a more complex site map.
A site map is the backbone for the layout of your website. It defines the pages you have and how they relate to each other.
The key to making a sitemap is:
- Know the reason for creating your website
- List everything that helps you reach that goal
- Add content that fulfills the first two points
Depending on your personality I suggest two methods to creating a sitemap.
Method One: Dump and sort.
Write down “everything” you want to put on your website. The needs, wants, and whatever else you want to have on your website. For everything you have listed write one to two paragraphs explaining what you’ve listed, focus on the benefits. Each of these writings we will call content.
For each piece of content try to identify keyword or phrases that explain the content. Write those words on the same page as your content. We will call those categories.
Take all the content with the same categories and bunch them together. Next see if you have categories that have similar words. See if you can work them together into one word.
Once you categorize everything the categories themselves may be the pages you need. Imagine your website having your business name, your tagline, and the categories you made. Do you think you can find your content under these categories?
Next Step: “Now What?”
Method 2: Set-up a framework
The idea is to start building a frame to help guide you as you build your content.
Write down the pages you want. Start with: Home, Services (product), About, and Contact. Add any other pages you think you need.
Next, for each page listed write content for each page.
Read over everything you have written. Does this content and the pages you list cover the goals of your website?
Now what?
Next, write down what makes you unique or different. What would someone expect to see when coming to your website? (Restaurants: Menus, Repair Places:Services/Prices, Doctors Office: Insurances taken, etc.) Add this to your Sitemap
After you have written everything you want on your website, try to categorize what is the most important.
For Extra credit: Draw Bubbles with lines, Use lists with bullet points or just draw doodles on a napkin. Whatever you need to express how the information on your site is tied together. (One of the best site-maps I saw was in purple pen and on a thick weight eggshell white paper napkin.)
What about the items that have multiple categories? Easy draw lines from each item to the other page they could go to.
Is all the important information you want available easily found on your sitemap? If not make it so.
Congratulations your site map is done.
2009 Year End
Posted on | January 14, 2010 | View Comments
For all of your design and marketing needs, Give us a Shout!
Hey, Monge! Ad Agency has played an active role in the City of Orange Community for the last two years and would like to take a moment and say “Thank You!” to the people who have been a part of our business life. This letter wraps up this year, and we’re going to shoot for quarterly updates next year, in addition to the online social networking Hey, monge! Ad Agency is involved in daily. (Twitter & FaceBook)
Current Clients
Olea Essence: Olive Oil Based Skincare. Great product and a great team at the helm. They currently are in eight select Whole Food Stores. To Learn more about them you can visit: www.oleaessence.net or visit their FaceBook Fan Page
Bryant Layton: Off-Road Racer; class 6 and motorbike. He recently came back from racing the Baja 1000. Currently sponsored by RockStar energy drinks. We are working with him to brand himself and his race team. Keep an eye out for more developments.
Rockwell’s Bakery: We are helping Rockwell’s Bakery get some basic SEO elements in place. For this holiday Season if you need a custom cake, these guys are great! www.rockwellsbakery.com
Opus Italian: We are working with Tim and Kathy to help spruce up their website to better reflect the ambiance and feel Opus has. If you need a good italian place to take your significant other, this is the place. www.opusitalian.com
ShredWise: Identity Theft is on the Rise! Shredwise is a mobile document destruction service. They help keep businesses compliant with record destruction. We are sprucing up their site. www.shred-wise.com
5minutehorror: Are you a horror fan, but short on time? This production company produces horror shorts. We are helping them get the word out.www.5minutehorror.com Also check out their Horror Haiku on Twitter: @5minutehorror
Dragonfly Shops and Gardens: When you’re in the plaza (circle, to some) stop by the Dragonfly and see all the wonderful gifts and trinkets. You might recall driving past a quaint looking house with a large garden in front. There is even more in the inside of each room. Be on the lookout for an upcoming website as well. We are helping them with their new website. www.dragonflyshopsandgardens.com
A Fond Remembrance: This holiday season if you need a little extra help, check-out this Personal Concierge service. She specializes in helping families and individuals make arrangements in times of need. We are working with her to rebrand and refresh her marketing efforts. She is opening a second office in Orange County, originally from San Diego. www.afondremembrance.com
Chapman Coffee House: The corner of Walnut and Glassel in Orange has seen many versions of what is now Deb’s Chapman Coffee House. That’s right, a reboot of the old Chapman Coffee House. Deborah Yamazaki is the new owner and is working hard to create a warm and more appealing coffee shop. Stop in and say “hi”. We are working on a new website for them. you can see the temporary site here: www.chapmancoffeehouse.net
Recent Clients
YMCA of Orange: One of the best kept secrets of Orange. The YMCA of Orange is located on Grand Street and helps the community by providing services and activities for the youth of Orange and surrounding areas. We helped them with a new look for their website: www.ymcaoforange.com
Diamond Carpet Care: If you hosting family or holiday parties and need your carpets cleaned the right way, Bill Masters and his team can deliver service in a professional way. The price you are quoted is the price you pay. Check out his new site to learn how they do business:www.diamondcarpetcare.net
Orange Chamber of Commerce: a non profit, pro business entity that serves the business community of Orange. We have served in contributing to marketing and print design, and participated in various aspects. www.orangechamber.com
European Cleaners: Bill Alvarez is a man passionate about dry cleaning. He is a trainer for several manufactures and is helping to lead the way in changes in the dry cleaning industry. If you need your dry cleaning done in an efficient and environmentally friendly way, they will pick up and drop off at no extra charge. Check out their new site www.drycleanerstogo.com
A&M Biomedical: This team is a quality oriented medical device manufacturing company. For over 16 years they have manufactured medical devices. Currently they are expanding their client base. We helped with their current branding efforts. Check out their site: www.ambiomedical.com
Special Projects – Community Projects
We believe in community and business leaders investing into community efforts. We are involved in the following:
Leadership Orange: A program run by the Orange Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Orange helps local community leaders and business owners develop additional leadership skills while meeting current community and municipal leaders. The program introduces the participants to the various departments in Orange and provides one day intensives. www.orangechamber.org
Orange Mayor’s Office Non-Profit Community Resource: We are working with a small team to develop an online resource for non-profits to share resources and services to be better able to serve those in need.
St. Joseph Hospital Foundation Marketing Advisory Team: We are working with an advisory team to help the Foundation integrate new media and help develop current marketing strategies in these tough economic times.
A Year of Websites: This is a promotion we are running to help businesses get online in an inexpensive way and generate promotion for these sites.www.ayearofwebsites.com
MyFreeOC: We are still looking for and sending out free things to do in Orange County. We are going two and a half years strong. You can check out the website: www.myfreeoc.com follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook
Moving Forward
Hey, Monge! Ad Agency is expanding to include Pasadena. As family and other life goals move us, our business offers services in a broad way to local markets. Hey, Monge! continues to serve the City of Orange and clients reaching from San Diego and South Orange County as well.
Watch our website for updates, reviews, and fast breaking news about the trends in marketing and web services. We are daily sourcing resources for you and your business. In this fast-growing industry, it is up to individual businesses to adapt and integrate new ideas. We can help you sort through it all.
We appreciate our customers. Please continue to support our business by referring these services in your business network. Please refer to:joshua@heymonge.com
New Products for the Year
E-mail Marketing: We formalized agreements with Emma so we can offer an e-mail management/marketing service that is customizable and easy to use. You can see the service and price on our Emma page.
Resource Site: We created a 2nd layer to our site to offer tips, advice and more insight into what we do, how we do it, and why. You can also leave comments on the site or ask questions. If you don’t see something on the site and have a questions let us know. Hey,Monge! Resource site.
Special Thanks
We wanted to thank the friends and vendors that have helped us this year. Donna Watson, Designer Mouse, Lacey Morgan, Laci Morgan Creations, Western Printing Group, Kenny the Printer, Wen Huang, Made Media.
Amazing Information
Posted on | January 4, 2010 | View Comments
Thing we find amazing will be added here. Enjoy!
Did you know? 3.0
Did you know? 4.0
Client Vendorship Relationship
Posted on | January 4, 2010 | View Comments
Here is a video that outlines a client vendor relationship in real world situations.
Search Engine Marketing
Posted on | January 4, 2010 | View Comments
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing: Easier with more computers
There are many ways to market your site for success. Search Engine Marketing is a culmination of efforts that increase awareness of your site. There is some debate as to what SEM really is, but for our purposes in this site we label any effort to get better search results, after your site is launched, as Search Engine Marketing. There many options you can pay for in order to increase the amount and quality of traffic to your site. They boil down to the following:
Pay-per-click
One of the most sought after SEM plans. Basically the goal is to have your link placed near the top of a search without having to wait for organic search results to move your site up. Your website address will be placed in a sponsorship section, where people can see your site and click for more information. This service is great if your site is tuned in such a way that every person that comes to your site makes some sort of commitment or promise to commit, such as leaving personal information, making a purchase, contributing to your site, or others like this.
With this plan you get the option of tracking your dollars, seeing the amount of times your site has been displayed, when it was clicked, and how it was found. If you have the resources to invest, this is a great option for new sites, or websites that need better results.
Banner Ads
If there are sites that you enjoy using, or are a part of your industry, you can pay to have a spot on the site, a banner ad. It’s like a mini billboard for your site. It gives you a chance to appeal to people who you think would need to see your site. Be sure the provider can tell you the number of times it’s displayed and your click-thru rate.
Listing Services
There are thousands of sites online trying to collect information and present it in a way that users can find it easily and with in relation to other sites. Your business has trade sites that will offer you registration for your site with their service. Be sure to research to find out what kind of track record the website has before considering to pay for service. Also check to make sure that the service they offer actual delivers.
Traffic Generators
There are several companies that promise to drive traffic to your site. You should know how they send traffic to your site. If they are offering guaranteed links, you need to be sure that they are following web standards. Inappropriate linking, or old SEO “tricks” may get your site banned, or you may be flagged by sites that have more prominence. Be sure to check these things ahead of time.
Feeder Websites
Feeder websites are sites that may target or be branded to focus on one aspect of a business. They should be relevant and able to clearly explain what there intent is and who they represent. This is a great option for businesses that are strong in various areas of their field and want to garner more business in that discipline. Be careful not to set up too many feeder sites. If not used appropriately, your site could become flagged by search engines for bad behavior.
Link Building
The key to a link building campaign is getting quality links to your site. There are services that can help you find sites that are in your area or line of business. Be careful to only have quality sites link to your site. Link farms or deceptive practices can negatively impact your SEO results. Check the results of anyones efforts. We will post a page with some tools to check page rankings.
Ready to Start? Give us a shout and we can get you started!
Social Networking Tools for Non-Profits
Posted on | January 4, 2010 | View Comments
Non-Profit Organizations Social Media Tools
Simplicity, Creativity, and Paper friends make for light work.
For anyone that has worked for, volunteered, or associated with non-profits you understand that non-profits are a unique breed (as a philanthropic business entity). They work for a cause and activate others to contribute their time, talents and treasures. There is a constant struggle to get the word out and bring in donations without spending the very money they have collected for their cause. The “cost of doing business” directly impacts the service levels the non-profit can offer.
So with this in mind we are going to assemble tools and resources for non-profits. If you are a non-profit please provide us feedback on any of these tools you use, how they work and anything else you’d like to see.
ROI Calculator: Social Network Campaigns
ROI Calculator for Social Network Campaigns : I haven’t tested it. I’d love to get some feedback from the Non-Profit Folks.
Concept: Plug in the numbers and see if the social campaign is working and netting you a positive result.