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Tingalls Blog - Marketing Tips & Tricks

#1 Rule to Writing a Great Home Page

When it comes to writing the copy for your home page, you’re naturally eager to want to put your best foot forward, right?  But so often (I’m speaking from 1st hand and client experience), you end up putting too many feet forward, and the result is you overwhelm and confuse your website visitor… so they leave. The best way to write a great home page is just by following the classic K.I.S.S. rule – Keep It Simple Stupid (or Silly for those easily offended). When visitors arrive at your site, they are in a hurry to find out if you have what they want.  So your copy needs to communicate […]

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Posted in Copywriting & Blogging, Website Design

How is Printer Ownership Like Pool Ownership?

Every once in a while we get thrown for a little printer loop.  This time we were prepared because we had our trusty new printer selection algorithm to help us.  The loop in question was that often the needs of a customer do not equate with the dollar amount that a customer is willing or able to spend. Naturally not everyone considers a new office machine to be an investment.  I would counter that if you are looking to replace a machine that has lasted 10 years with little issue than it may be possible to look toward investing in another machine with a similar lifespan.  That machine will likely […]

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Posted in Advertising, Print & Package Design

Sticky Prints by Dan Dettman

Wells Print and Design Services offers a number of ways to print leave-behind materials with friends, customers, and colleagues.  As fall sporting seasons move on, a printed schedule is still the preferred way to look up the home team’s opponent and game time.  Wells is able to print magnet schedules or static cling schedules on the new wide format press.  Printing a company logo along the hometown’s team creates a subtle customer loyalty piece.  An office or home refrigerator may be the place to keep your logo in front of customers from the beginning of fall into winter. Along with refrigerator magnets, car magnets are a non-permanent approach to promote […]

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Posted in Advertising, Print & Package Design

Website Trends from Tingalls Graphic Design

          Tingalls Graphic Design has seen the web play a more important part in our business and in yours over the years. Web design is one of those ever changing fields that is often dictated by trends and public demand and acceptance. While some trends are absolutely spot on and important for the evolution of your website, others are exactly the opposite and can turn off your target audience. And some trends are just like fashion; your look doesn’t affect performance, but your customers may find you outdated. We’ve looked at our web design projects for the last few years and made note of a few […]

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Posted in Advertising, Branding, Search Engine Optimization, Website Design

Guidelines for Facebook Banners

  Tingalls Graphic Design is often asked to update cover images for our clients on Facebook and we’re more than happy to help you reinforce your brand, increase customer loyalty and recognition. We feel it’s important to share Facebook’s guidelines for cover images so you can get the most out of your social media banner on Facebook and so you don’t “get in trouble”. Remember, Facebook reserves the right to reject a page at any time for any reason, so you want to play by their rules. No pricing information in the cover photo. This means you can’t advertise your sale price, you can’t post the percent off or even […]

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Posted in Branding, Logo Design, Social Media Marketing, Tips

Direct Mail Brings Home Charitable Donations

Charitable causes that aren’t reaching out to their donors through social media and direct mail may want to reconsider their fundraising efforts. A recent study from Campbell Rinker found that a direct mail appeal for donations was more than three times likely to receive an online gift as a response than an email was. The study also found that among donors that were aged 60 and above, online donations as a result of direct mail rose from 18% just two years ago to 30%, clearly showing that direct mail is hitting its target. Thirty percent of the younger set, donors under the age of 40, said that they contributed to […]

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Posted in About Tingalls, Advertising, Email Marketing, Marketing

Are You Effectively Using Your Mobile Marketing Budget

The phone, or mobile device, has evolved so much that people now carry their photos, their calendars, their personal data with them at all times and constantly refer to it to stay connected with loved ones and the world around them. Obviously, this hasn’t gone unnoticed and marketing to people on mobile devices has become a huge business. In 2012 mobile ad spending in the United States is expected to hit $2.6 billion and by 2015 it’s predicted to be slightly less than twice that amount. But is this money being spent effectively? Many people are having a hard time adapting to this new technology and are approaching it as […]

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Posted in Advertising, Email Marketing, Marketing, Tips

The History of Iconic Logos

The logo creation process is unique to every company logo. At Tingalls Graphic Design we have a set procedure for designing logos but, as we sometimes find, the ideas can come at anytime and anywhere, which got us talking recently about iconic logos and how they were created. We found this so interesting we thought we’d share the stories of how some famous logos came to be. Nike The Nike Swoosh is recognized around the world and hasn’t changed much since its inception, but what is the history of the Nike Swoosh? In 1971 a graphic design student, Carolyn Davidson, agreed to do some freelance work for Blue Ribbon Sports, […]

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Posted in Logo Design, Tips

Logo Design Process at Tingalls Design

At Tingalls we understand how important a company logo is. Your logo will be instantly associated with your business, it represents you and needs to appropriately reflect your company goals, products and image. We have been helping our clients with logo design for more than 10 years and have handled more than 500 successful brands. Our approach is a little bit different than other logo design companies in that we provide all custom artwork (no clip-art), we charge hourly instead of flat rate pricing to be more affordable, and we offer a quick turn around with initial designs provided in 5 business days or less. Our approach is to partner […]

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Posted in About Tingalls, Logo Design

Localized Search Engine Optimization (LSEO)

Some of you may have noted that when you’re doing a Google search the results seem to be more localized. If you type the query “Mexican restaurant” into Google you’ll get results from your area, not from all over the country or the world. You may also be aware of Google Places; which is something to look into and sign your company up if you haven’t already. These small changes show that there is a larger change underfoot, the change to localized search engine optimization. For some companies this is very important, for others it’s not very important at all. If you’re a company that feels your location is important, […]

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Posted in Advertising, Copywriting & Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, Website Design

5 Big SEO Mistakes

We’ve covered SEO tips in the past, but what about SEO mistakes? What are you doing, or not doing, that can actually be harming your website’s ranking on the search engines? 1)      Keywords – you’ll repeatedly hear how important keywords or keyphrases are to your SEO, similarly, using the wrong ones can hurt your company. Take the time to know what terms people are using to search for your company or your competition. For example, more people search with the phrase “Real Estate” than “Home for Sale”; so you want to optimize for the keyword “real estate”. 2)      Click Here – How often have you seen “Click Here” on a […]

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Posted in Search Engine Optimization, Tips, Website Design

Google Places for Local Businesses

I recently attended an SMBA meeting with representatives from the local Google office. The topic of the day was Google Places and why your business should register with Google Places. Google designed its Place Pages to help people connect to local businesses more easily and getting set up couldn’t be more convenient with representatives from Google coming to your business to walk you through the procedure at no charge. Why do you want to be listed in Google Places? One out of five searches on Google are related to location and by properly tagging your business to your location you can reach that audience who is searching for your company. […]

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Posted in Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Tips

Why You Should Have a Professionally Designed Website

Let’s be completely honest for a minute, we often judge by appearances. Look at the old cliché…how many times have you actually selected a book because the cover looked interesting. Take it a step further, which cookbook is more likely to succeed, the one with a mouthwatering photo of a delectable delight or the one with a picture of cooking utensils. You get the picture (sorry – bad pun intended). So why wouldn’t you want to put your best foot forward when it comes to your first impression with potential customers on the internet? When appearances matter and your competition is just a mouse click away, having a professionally designed […]

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Posted in Advertising, Search Engine Optimization, Website Design

How to Incorporate Social Media into a Print Campaign

A recent study by the Pivot Conference discovered that 37% of marketers plan to be more active in their social media campaigns in 2012. Why the push for social media? It appears as though people are beginning to grasp the benefits of a social media arm inside of their marketing strategy. There are a number of different ways to incorporate social media into your customer outreach programs but most of them are web based. How can you use your print marketing to boost your social media interaction? The easiest way to bring social media to your print materials is to include your social media information, Facebook web address, your Twitter […]

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Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Networking, Social Media Marketing, Tips

Website Must Haves

A website is the foundation of a good, solid online strategy and in today’s digital environment, having an online presence is almost necessary to reach buyers. But having a website and having an effective, quality website are two totally different things. As online marketing experts at HubSpot say, “a website needs to not just exist, it needs to perform.” Whether you are considering a new website or evaluating your existing website, there are some key elements every website should have that will attract viewers, inform, educate or entertain them, and eventually convert them into customers. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) The most appealing and useful website is worthless if no one […]

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Posted in Advertising, Search Engine Optimization

Creating a Social Media Campaign for Trade Shows

A trade show is a major investment in time and money for a business, but it can also be one of the most valuable marketing opportunities around. The challenge is to really create an impression at the trade show so people remember your company and not your competitors (and your competition is probably just down the aisle). Social media can help you get a leg up on your competition and make a stop at your booth a must for all attendees. And, if done properly, the constant reinforcement of your company name and message on social media will make you more memorable. A social media marketing plan for a trade […]

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Posted in Advertising, Networking, Social Media Marketing, Tradeshow Marketing