August 2011
2 posts
5 tags
Presentations? There's an App For That, which...
Clients have asked me on occassion whether there was a good solution for “presenting” with the iPad. While Prezi’s iPad presenter was very innovative, it didn’t fit the medium well. I tried a few other apps that allowed you to control the meeting, but every app seemed fraught with bugs.
Idea Flight seems like a game changer:
Single controller
15 wifi / bluetooth...
2 tags
Are Your Metrics Giving a Map to a Blind Man?
Sometimes I hear people share metrics that are like giving a map to a blind man that is lost in the desert at night. “Great we’re lost as hell, and you’ve given us no idea how to get back on track.”
So, the question is how can you share information that helps people:
Know the destination
Measure progress toward the destination
Stay on track
Metrics are only helpful...
July 2011
1 post
5 tags
REPOST: Did Google Stick a + in the heart of...
This post originally appeared on Between You and Me on July 5, 2011.
Like others in the social sphere, I’ve been playing around with Google+ since its release last week (thanks to James Herbert). Like the Google Buzz experiment, I’ve been casually playing with it to see how Google envisions their second stand in the social sphere. So, I’m a bit cautious to make any...
June 2011
1 post
7 tags
"What Does "the Agency" Look Like in 2015?"
A few weeks ago another partner of Bluegill and I spoke with a recent college graduate seeking one of those non-existent, executive level, no-experience, marketing jobs. She had a number of questions for us about the industry, and the opportunities that she might pursue while tracking down a job. Then she asked, “what does the agency look like in 2015?”
My suggestion to her was to...
April 2011
1 post
Buzz Does
Bluegill Creative will demonstrate at a national conference how social media can raise awareness and help people in need.
The 400 participants at “Social Slam” will receive from Bluegill a “Buzz Does” hand buzzer during the April 13 conference at the Knoxville Convention Center. Attached to the toy will be a card detailing how a Twitter “Tweet” with the hashtag #buzzdoes will result in a...
March 2011
1 post
5 tags
Gold for Bluegill in an “Envelope” & Silver in PYA
Bluegill Creative won gold at the 2011 Addy Awards for designing and launching a new website for The Happy Envelope. Bluegill’s work on PYA’s new website was recognized with a silver Addy.
The Happy Envelope designs and produces wedding invitations, birth announcements, holiday cards and other custom printing products. The company recently opened an office at 525 Union Avenue in downtown...
December 2010
1 post
2 tags
What's Your Problem?
When you get to the heart of it, most great business ideas set out to solve a problem: make sick people better, sell more widgets, make better widgets, etc.
VCRs brought the cineplex into the living room, and Blockbuster Video made a fortune by allowing people to rent a flick for a few of bucks. Cost prevented ordinary consumers from owning vast libraries of the newest releases, so Blockbuster...
October 2010
1 post
How Do You Share Your Joy?
Bluegill has been busy lately with the creation of the redesigned site for The Happy Envelope, a Knoxville-based, custom designed invitation and paper goods company. Working with owners Sarah and Ty Pattison has been invigorating for the team of Robby, Caryn and myself. They typify the very clients that we want to help—small business owners that are using the Internet to make their business...
September 2010
2 posts
2 tags
Is Your Marketing Like a Steady Stream?
Let’s play a game. Name as many “water” figures of speech as you can think of in 10 seconds. On your mark! Get set! Go!
A fish out of water
In deep water
It doesn’t hold water
It is like drinking a glass of water
To throw water on fire
You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink
Since the days of Poseidon, water has been a big deal. Whether...
2 tags
Social Media Gone Vintage
Can’t help but love these social media ads and their throwback to a vintage print style.
Designed by a Sao Paulo ad agency, Moma, I love the way these ads are treated. They fully embrace the concept of old ads, not just a style. I frequently admire the simplicity of old ads with their strong illustrations, minimal yet clever text in beautiful typography and well planned color schemes....
August 2010
5 posts
Information is Beautiful
While we’re on the subject of infographics, allow me to direct your attention to a site brimming with eye candy of often boring statistics in simply stunning form: Information is Beautiful.
Thanks to David McCandless and his war against pie charts, I can now view and be inspired by things like a visual breakdown of the much discussed oil spill. And the colors (or colours) of culture around...
3 tags
4 tags
So Your Site Has SEO, Now What?
“If you build it, they will come” the voice ominously spoke in Field of Dreams. Often, we think the same about our websites. If we build them, design them well, and maybe even create a Google Adwords campaign, the traffic will come. Unfortunately, traffic doesn’t pay the bills, we need our visitors to do something once they arrive at our site.
Google says the conversion events...
4 tags
Engage, Brian Solis
This week Brian Solis released his book Engage. This experienced tome is crafted from Brian Solis’ work in the trenches of social media.
For anyone in the business of social media, Brian’s exploration of all things social takes a survey of practically all tools in the industry, and if you’re asking just what the industry of social media is, Brian offers this definition:...
"Please Pull Around...To The Second Window"
Shouldn’t it just be “please pull around?”
At one point, an idea took root, and it changed the structure, staffing, and procedure of fast food business. The idea rang of some hollow notion about efficiency and customer service. “If we just had one person dedicated to the transaction, then we could dedicate a person manning another window to man the order...
July 2010
2 posts
Caryn's aha Moment
Bluegill’s own Caryn Schafer was recently interviewed as part of Mutual of Omaha’s aha moment campaign. To our delight, Caryn’s aha moment was when she realized that her artistic and illustration skills could be turned into a career by studying graphic design in college. Bluegill’s clients are reaping the rewards. See Caryn discuss her aha moment at…
...
Fish Bowl
The fish brought their “A” games to the Knoxville Ad Federation’s inter-ad agency bowling tournament last night. There was a lot of noise, some trash talk with the competition, a few beers, more noise, a few gutter balls, more strikes, and more noise. The place was rocking.
Bluegill brought home the coveted Gold Megaphone for being the most rowdy - an award we clearly deserved -...
June 2010
2 posts
Get In the Healthcare Loop with ReformLoupe
Bluegill client Pershing Yoakley & Associates has launched a Bluegill-designed, web-based application called PYA ReformLoupe. Unveiled at the American Health Lawyers Association national conference in Seattle, it compiles minute-to-minute developments and commentary on healthcare reform from government, media, and social media sources into one easy to use clearinghouse. I am very proud of...
May 2010
3 posts
Charlene Li's Open Leadership Hits Shelves Today
Charlene Li’s Open Leadership is set to hit bookstore shelves today, kind of…In a post over the weekend, Charlene is looking for feedback from people around the country to send her feedback on sitings.
If you are not familiar with Li, she co-authored Groundswell with Josh Bernhoff a few years ago. Since that time, Li left Forrester to start Altimeter group. In Bernhoff’s review...
5 tags
Tips for Better Content
The world is filled with content creators. Some are great. Most are average, at best. Ian Lurie has 19 ways to be a good marketing copywriter. These tips are good for content creators of all types.
My favorites:
#2 Forget high school and college writing
#6 Instead of writing down your next blog post, record it.
Writing with regularity is one of the most important techniques. It is hard to...
