So it’s no longer just 60s-era advertising or crime scene investigations where TV is getting material from. The good old tube is also picking up concepts from new avenues and technologies: social media. After landing a book deal, the popular and witty Twitter serial @ShitMyDadSays was recently picked up by CBS, which intends to produce a half-hour family comedy series based on the content of the phenomenally successful social media meme. The Twitter account is authored by Justin Halpern, who quotes his own 73-year-old father’s sometimes profane, sometimes cranky, and always funny quips and off-the-cuffs. David Kohan and Max Mutchnick – creators of Will & Grace – are reported to be executive producing the show, which Halpern will co-write with Patrick Schumacker. Internet and social media marketers will have a thing or two to learn from Halpern – and it’s not necessarily that comedy sells better than promotions speak. It is Halpern’s creation of focused, in-demand, and consistently creative content – Read the full article
Many Internet marketing experts have said that “content is king”. If so, Lakeshore Branding is your army and navy. And we’re here to help you conquer the competitive battlefield: that is, the online marketplace. We have an array of content creation services designed to help you make a powerful impact on the web and trigger your business success. Our strategy isn’t purely linguistic – we are driven not only to write with accuracy, clarity, and creativity, but also with awareness of what works for your target online audience. We develop original, informative, and attention-catching content that serve as an extension of your brand, and we optimize these in a way that brings in qualified traffic to your website, either from search engines or from other authority sites related to your industry. Our areas of expertise include SEO writing, social media communications, online advertising copy, online press releases, and website content. Our content creation services include: Website Content Development Blog Development – Read the full article
We’re moving beyond the tradition of consulting the yellow pages. With 80 percent of people turning to search engines to find local information, Google last week launched its Local Listing Ads service, which makes fixed-fee advertising placements available in Google’s local search results as well as in Google Maps. The new service demonstrates once again how the Internet – and Google in particular – is changing how local business listings are done – and searched. Available initially in San Diego and San Fransisco in limited beta, Local Listing Ads is different from Google AdWords in that it requires no creative or keyword management and no bidding. The monthly fee is flat, determined by Google with the goal of ensuring that businesses’ ads are seen by the highest number of people looking for relevant local information. Business owners who purchase the ad select the location and business category to ensure local targeting, and from there, Google takes care of the creating – Read the full article
So you have an idea for a business website and you’ve hired a web designer. It’s a simple enough collaboration. You’re raring to go live. If, however, you wish to encourage people to keep coming back to your site, understand that this takes more than stylish, colorfully designed pages and great Photoshop skills. After all, there are things that a web designer won’t tell you – or can’t tell you – but which you should know anyway. Here are some of them: 1. “Shiny, sparkly, and splendidly bright” doesn’t cut it. It might work as a lyric for a Michael Jackson single (“Gone Too Soon”), but not as an agenda for web design. Out of propriety, or shyness typical of people with artistic temperaments, a web designer might not tell you to keep off the electric neon-colored background, or the blinking rainbow font, or the head copy that scrolls like a snail. Keep off them anyway. You want your website – Read the full article
“Companies that maintained or upped their advertising during the 1981–82 recession, had gains in sales in the short-run as well as the long-run. The McGraw-Hill Research study analyzed 600 companies from 1980 to 1985, and found those that advertised aggressively throughout the recession had sales 256% higher than ones who cut back on advertising.” The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has confirmed that the U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007. Many economists believe the current recession will be the worst since the recession of 1981-82. Times are rough, but that doesn’t mean you should lower your advertising budget; you actually should maintain or raise it, or just advertise smarter. A recent study by McGraw-Hill Research showed that companies that maintained or upped their advertising during the 1981–82 recession, had gains in sales in the short-run as well as the long-run. The McGraw-Hill Research study analyzed 600 companies from 1980 to 1985, and found those that – Read the full article
“Right now, your customers are writing about your products on blogs and recutting your commercials on YouTube. They’re defining you on Wikipendia and ganging up on you on social networking sites like Facebook. These are all elements of a social phenomenon- the groundswell- that has created a permanent shift in the way the world works.” This is written on the book jacket of the book Groundswell, a national bestseller. The social media revolutions is upon us. Several experts claim for it to be the biggest shift in business since the industrial revolution. The change in how we communicate with the public, potential and existing customers is evolving at a pace that has not been seen before with adoption of other technologies. Its a social media revolution. It used to take years to build new media platforms, for radio it was 38 years, television 13 years, the internet 4 years, and the iPod 3 years- each respectively to reach 50 million – Read the full article
Lakeshore Branding is a team designed to build companies. We’ve come together around a belief that we can help companies do a better job of marketing online to drive more sales, leads and conversions. We’re experienced, opinionated and driven. Our team members have worked for big brands, agencies and start ups. They have been the creative directors, strategists of marketing campaigns and the creative force behind some exciting marketing campaigns. But our strongest characteristic is a dedication to ensuring entrepreneurial success for each of our clients. Each of us is addicted to helping companies grow and Lakeshore Branding, as an organization, gives us our fix. Chris Campbell Principal Yes, that is a picture of Chris with a baby tiger. Chris is a highly entrepreneurial person who is creative, resourceful and motivated to help his clients achieve their business objectives. Chris loves working with innovative businesses that are looking for new ways to sell their products or services online, he approaches – Read the full article
Web design is more than just creativity, it usability. At Lakeshore Branding, we believe understanding your visitors and how they use your website will lead to increased conversions. For each new website or website redesign, our team of graphic designers, SEO consultants and marketing specialists work together on strategy, design, usability, and goals. Custom SEO Packages Let Lakeshore Branding introduce you to our talented web designers who can help you build a website that not only conveys your message, but has a strong emphasis on usability and conversions of your traffic. E-Commerce SEO Solutions For clients that require an out of the box custom solution, we specialize in building e-commerce websites on the Magento framework. Magento is an open source program that has been regarded as the future of e-commerce with a list of features that few can match. This shopping cart is fully customizable with full SEO integration. Chicago Central Dearborn Park/ Printer’s Row: 60605 Gold Coast/ Streeterville: 60610, – Read the full article
