Small Business Design Resources

Brand Recognition: Creating a Custom Twitter Background

When you have a business, you want your brand to be recognized in everything that you do. Having your business on Twitter is no different. By creating a custom Twitter background you will instantly stand out, bring credibility to your brand and leave a lasting impression to your visitors.

There are no set rules on how your background needs to look or what size it needs to be, but here are some pointers on what to do to keep that professional image.

• Keep all-important information on the left-hand side of the page.
• Always include your logo.
• Include your actual photo, this way you bring more trust and can result in more followers.
• Use colors that are similar to your brand to keep consistent.
• Use relevant images/graphics.
• Do NOT hard sell!
• Do list links of your websites, blogs, and other networking site where you can be found.

How to determine what size to make your Twitter background

The best way is to look at your website’s analytics program and see what are your visitor’s browser screen resolutions. Take a look at the top two and based on that, you can choose what would be the best size for your background. Keep in mind that the smaller the resolution, the less space you have for design.

The best approach to designing a custom Twitter background

Create everything in layers (it’s easier to make changes when you’re working with layers). This does not mean that you need to have Photoshop to do this. There are many free alternatives to Photoshop that perform just as great. I am recommending the “Phoenix” by Aviary.com as it’s very similar to Photoshop.

• Your first layer should be the main image, color or gradient that will serve as the pallet for your design.
• Next few layers don’t have to be in this order. You can start with the top banner that’s where you can add another color or gradient. This is where the Twitter logo and menu will sit so keep in mind the visibility when choosing colors.
• The last and most important step is to add your information to the left-hand side of the page and it’s best if you place this on it’s own layer.

Use one of these templates as a guide on proper placement of your information

1024 x 768 Template	1280 x 800 Template

Quick tip: Do NOT place important information below 600 pixels in height no matter the screen resolution size. This is because some users might have extra tool bars on their browser window, which pushes all the information down.

After you download the background template, open it in the design program of your choice and use it as bottom layer to server as a guide for you to place your information. When you’re done with your design, delete the layer with template. Save your design as GIF, JPG, or PNG format. Then go to your twitter page and follow these steps:

• Select Settings
• Choose the Design tab
• Click on Change background image
• Upload your image
• Make sure that tile background is NOT checked
• Save changes

That’s it you’re done!

Ins and Outs of Website Policies

In this post Jor Law, Esq. from www.homeierlaw.com examines the legal requirements when designing a website.

Exciting news…your brand-new website design looks great and it’s ready to go live. You’ve even got that fancy copyright statement on the bottom like all the other websites do. But wait. Many other sites have disclaimers, terms of use, and/or privacy policies. Do you need to have them? Should you have them? Why or why not?

Generally speaking, there is no legal requirement in California to have any disclaimers or site policies on a website. That shouldn’t be confused with other laws which may require protection of confidential collection collected. For example, if a doctor must keep certain client information he or she collects confidential, the fact that such information is collected through a website without a privacy policy does not mean that the doctor no longer has the obligation to keep that information confidential.’

Nevertheless, there are good reasons for having website policies. Terms of use policies can contain important disclaimers and other provisions that help govern the use of your website. What a terms of use policy contains could vary drastically depending on what information is on your website and what website functions are offered. For example, if your website has social networking elements or content contributed by users, you may want to include a disclaimer providing that each person is responsible for the content that they contribute and that you do not review, endorse, or necessarily approve of their content. You may want to reserve the right to remove content that is offensive. If you are providing your own content, you may want to let your users know that, while they have a license to view your content, they may not reproduce it, distribute it, or otherwise use the content in any other way without your prior written consent. Generally speaking, from a legal point of view, a well-drafted terms of use policy serves to benefit you as it generally sets forth conditions of use, various disclaimers, and other language protecting you as the website operator or owner.

A privacy policy, on the other hand, tends to exist for the benefit of the visitors to the website. Without a formal privacy policy, you would be held accountable to the privacy laws anyway. A formal privacy policy typically sets forth items such as how you will collect information, what information you will collect, and how you will or will not use the information you collect. If your privacy policy sets forth certain standards outlining how you will handle information collected on your website, then the expectation is that you will be held to those standards. Obviously, the standards set forth in a privacy policy must be as stringent as those required by law. What that means is that if you have privacy policies that are more stringent than would otherwise be required by law, you have held yourself accountable to that higher level of conduct. Despite this, many websites have privacy policies because the perception is that visitors to a website feel more comfortable divulging their information if there is there is a clear privacy policy.

It is highly advisable that you consult an experienced corporate technology attorney if you seek advice regarding what sort of policies may be appropriate for your website. For those on a budget, an online search will turn up a plethora of terms of use and privacy policies. However, be careful when copying another website’s policies. Aside from possible copyright infringement, the policy that you copy may be tailored to a specific jurisdiction or the unique requirements of that website.

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Jor Law, Esq. is a business and corporate attorney and a founding shareholder of Homeier & Law, P.C. He can be reached at (818) 450-1550 x552 or through www.homeierlaw.com Copyright © 2009. All Rights Reserved. May not be duplicated, reprinted, or distributed in any form without permission by the author.

Let a Professional Design your Business Logo

It’s a fact that as a small business owner you wear many hats, especially when you’re first starting out. So on top of everything else that you do for your small business, you’ve decided to create your own logo. It’s clear that you understand that your small business needs an identity so people everywhere begin to recognize your name and want to do business with you. But do you really want to jeopardize your business reputation and begin the logo design process on your own? Unless you’re a professional graphic designer you have no expertise in the logo design, nor have any clue where to start, so why would you bother.

Trying to do logo design on your own
I understand you might be thinking that to hire a graphic designer is expensive and your small business budge can’t afford that. It really isn’t expensive if you think the value that a professional can bring to your business image in the long run. Let’s say for example you’re an excellent hair stylist, you have your own salon but you don’t have a logo that separates your salon from all the other salons in your area. You decide to sit down one night and take a stab in creating your own logo. You have an idea in mind so you open up your Microsoft Word and you start trying all the available fonts and clip art that come with that program. The result, a generic look with outdated clip art. The problem here is that you’re good at what you do but you clearly can’t specialize in everything. You don’t even have professional programs that a graphic designer would use to create your logo design. Imagine if I tried to cut my own hair, I would look like a mess.

Working together with your graphic designer
As a small business owner you’re always full of ideas and know your business better than anyone else. Here are a few pointers in how to work together with your graphic designer to help create your ideal image:

• explain what you’re envisioning
• provide a list of colors you like and also the colors that you absolutely would not want to see used
• let her know if you would like to have an icon, just a logo type or both
• where will your logo be used? Only on paper and web or may be also on clothes tags or anywhere else
• provide examples of other company logos that you were attracted to
• provide a list of few of your competitors
• always give us much information about your business as possible, including your target audience and geographic location that you’re targeting or anything else that might help to understand your business better

Remember, you want your business to be successful so don’t ruin your image by doing your own logo design.

How To Determine Your Target Market

Figuring out how to market your small business website effectively is critical to the success of your business, especially if you are investing time and money in advertising. For example, you don’t want to target high-end luxury goods to low income people or low-end goods to people looking to buy the very best.

Understanding how your customers’ think and what their spending habits are, is one of the keys of successful marketing. This is true whether your business is a mom and pop store on the corner of town or a small business website with great potential for global appeal.

There are some basic questions you can ask yourself when directing a marketing campaign – or even when choosing what products to emphasize on your website. Who needs the product? Is it a niche product or one with global appeal? Are you trying to reach a specific age group, if so consider who else you might need to market to. For example, if you are marketing video games to children under the age of 18, your advertising needs to appeal to youth but also to parents. If you are marketing luxury goods to men who are likely to be married, you might also need to target their wives and so on.

Once you have identified your target audience you need to think how you are going to reach your audience from your small business website. What blogs might your audience be reading? What sites might they be going to where it is worth your while to spend money on advertising? If you are not sure, go to some sites and look for ads for similar products to yours. If you notice that several other websites with similar products are favoring particular methods of advertising – perhaps they’re on to something.

Don’t be afraid of exploring new technology. Viral videos are all the rage, mostly because they work. Explore places like YouTube, and Twitter, and look into using Yahoo and Google ads to see how you can improve traffic to your website. Don’t just create your own log-ins to these sites, but leave messages on other people’s sites – preferably sites that might be attracting the same kind of traffic as would like to see coming to your site – and don’t forget to leave your calling card – a link back to your website.

Because owners of small business websites are usually on a tight budget, don’t overextend the finances to invest in heavy advertising until you know it’s working. Once you know you are reaching the right audience, you will know when it’s time for a more committed investment. Remember to monitor your advertising sites and when you get traffic to your site, make yourself aware of where it’s coming from. There are many tools on the market that will help you analyze traffic and many of them come free. Ultimately who is coming to your site will drive your ongoing marketing strategy. You want to know who is buying and what they are buying. Statistics are vital for increasing performance. You need to know what is going on in order to leverage it or improve it.

And don’t give up, remember that with persistence comes learning and the more you learn the easier it becomes. If you are a new small business website owner, expect a learning curve and exercise patience until you start to see traffic, and do good research to find out what’s going on with your website.

Who Needs a Website These Days?

Your business is small, you’re just starting out and you don’t have any employees. You may be asking yourself if you really need a website. After all, not all businesses are destined for internet selling. The fact is, today, more and more businesses both large and small realize that having an internet presence, even if you don’t directly sell through the internet, is vital to doing business in today’s market place. Ever since the early 80s when the internet first took hold, the importance of the medium has been steadily growing. Today if your business doesn’t have a website it’s not taken seriously, it’s the first place most people turn when they are looking for information about a company be it their address and phone number, their price list, opening hours or inventory.

Staying Ahead of the Competition.

In an article dated July 9, 2007, AdvanceMe Inc, a leading provider of funding for small and mid-sized businesses, reported on the findings of the Capital Access Network Small Business Barometer:

http://www.capitalaccessnetwork.com/documents/SurveyResultQ22007.pdf .

AdvanceMe distilled the results and made the following statement about small business owners:

“The results reveal an understanding of the importance of promoting their business presence on the Web with 68 percent utilizing first generation search engine optimization tools to help drive traffic, and another 58 percent using some form of online advertising.”

http://www.advanceme.com/press/2007/press_release070907.aspx

Having an internet presence sets you up as a first class provider and lets your customers have access to your store to answer simple questions even when your brick and mortar store is not open for business.

What are these small business owners doing with their websites?

If you have a business that is not built around internet selling, like many of the business owners in the survey, you may be wondering what these small business owners are doing on their websites. Here are some of the things they are accomplishing:

• Setting themselves apart from the competition

• Providing information about hours of operation and inventory to their customers

• Providing email access via their “contact us” page so customers can ask them questions

• Providing an opportunity for partners and affiliates to sell their products

• Advertising promotions, sales and new products or services

• Reaching customers who do not live in their local area

• Letting customers see pictures of their products

• Blogging – providing information on a weekly basis – staying in touch with customers

Reach More People, Offer a Better Service

People turn to the internet more and more frequently. A decade or two ago, people looking for a local business would turn to the yellow pages of their local telephone directory. Today, more and more people turn first to the internet and do a search on businesses in their town. Let’s say you have a dry cleaning service which really cannot be done over the internet. You may think having a website is a waste of time. But if your competition has a website, and their name comes up in the search engine, they are likely to get more business than you from travelers, new residents, and people who simply want to change dry cleaners.

Coin Laundry image from Flickr

If you have a website you can not only reach your dry cleaning customers, you could develop an email service to let people know when their dry cleaning is in, let them know about special offers. You could use the website to advertise extra services such as alterations, tailoring or shoe repair.

No matter what your business, with a little imagination, you will be able to think up several ways that you can improve or enhance your service with an internet presence even if all your customers are local. You could even use the website to increase income by using advertising for similar products on your site.