1. Security- Yeah, it’s important. Choose a password that is safe, sound, and secure. Don’t share it with anyone. Ever.  The damage that can be incurred by a stolen Twitter account username and password can add up quick, with the added danger of RT multipliers. Be careful. Use at least 8 characters, uppercase and lowercase, and numbers. Mix it up, and make it hard.
2. Follow users with similar interests, or at least those that interest you – take a minute to validate the person you’re about to follow.  What is the ratio of interesting vs. uninteresting Tweets? Is this a person you want filling up your Twitter page with tweets? Yeah, you can always cull your list and adjust, but you can save time by paying a bit better attention to who you’re actually following.
3. Thank followers - let them know that you are happy that they’re interested in you and your work. It’s a little courtesy, why not. Better than no response at all. Don’t immediately Direct Message them or auto DM them as soon as they follow you.  That’s bad form, no doubt. Keep DM’s as a special tool.
4. NEVER use a “get a ton of followers” pay service – it’s spammy non-engaged crap, and has proven to mean squat in the real world.
   

   The image from one of my classes...

5. Be polite… – Just because it’s the internet doesn’t mean that there aren’t penalties for acting like a jerk, being rude, or offensive. Humor is one thing. Being a snarky jackass is completely different. Be nice. You’ll get much further. Think about the fact that your Tweets really do have reach, and what you’re saying.
6. RT - Make sure to reference the original author when you RT, and make sure that you say something on your own as opposed to simply RT’ing everyone else all the time.
7. Offer value, provide your own insight -  Is what you’re saying valuable? Engage your followers, and reap the benefits. When you have insight into a certain topic that has been Tweeted, make sure to “@” the author, let them what you think, and make sure to hashtag (#) your post so that you get better reach. Stay on topic.

Overall, these are just a few examples that help make your Twitter account more valuable, and more effective.

Stay honest, offer value, give credit where credit is due, stay engaged; Twitter rocks.

]]> http://rovettidesign.com/notes-events/articles-and-insight/teaching-twitter/feed/ 0 http://rovettidesign.com/notes-events/articles-and-insight/some-valuable-tips-for-clients/ http://rovettidesign.com/notes-events/articles-and-insight/some-valuable-tips-for-clients/#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:18:55 +0000 Stephen Rovetti http://rovettidesign.com/?p=1261

You’re a client.  You need some design work done, and a designer has expressed interest in doing some work for you.  Maybe you need some print work done, maybe your website needs to be freshened up, maybe you need an annual report put together for your company.  Whether you’re a small business owner, or pull in creative talent for projects tied to a huge mega-corporation, there are some simple rules to follow to make sure that you get the most out of your designer, save time and frustration, and heaven forbid – actually save some money. This is not an exhaustive list, by any means, but can definitely help out folks that are looking for a designer and expect quality results. Think of this post as nothing more than a designer (me) offering some tips directly to you from experience, error, and success.

Pre-Project : Do you have a brief prepared?

More often than not, it’s important to prepare a brief for your designer. A brief is a document (or collection of documents) that are  incredibly important for a designer.  It creates a set of guidelines for your designer to follow, can help answer important questions, and can provide information that can help a designer further tap into his or her creativity to really make your project shine. Without getting into a horribly deep and dark granular description of all of the things that make a brief work, I’ll lay out the most important elements of a brief in my eyes.

1. Project description – including a title, which can be as simple as “Monkeycorp June 2010 Direct Mail Postcard”… or something like that. Give it a bit more than just  “Postcard.”
2. Goals and Guidelines – again, without getting to deep into the muck… it’s very important to let the designer know in the brief what you’re trying to say, what your goals are,  and who your competitors are. This intelligence allows the designer to truly engage his or her creative side and get the ball rolling.  The more information provided, the more a designer has to work with, and will undoubtedly result in a better proposal/quote.
3. Timeline, and budget – When do you need it by, and do you have a budget?
   Note - The budget game, or “how much can you spend” is a sensitive game to play. If you’re working with a designer that you’ve never worked with before and has no references, it’s perfectly fine to be guarded. A good designer will be transparent in their pricing.  They will be up front with their costs, and will not be ashamed to tell you right off the bat what their hourly rate is, or what an average project cost range might be. As the client, you need to be honest as well.  If your budget reaches the red zone at $1000, or $10,000, then let them know, or at least give them a friendly hint. Be aware, that a designer takes a good amount of time to get together a proposal. Drafting a solid proposal for a client takes significant time, effort, and in many cases, research. A good designer will also look at a brief, and then at the budget, and if they think it’s out of line, they’ll be more than happy to let you know.  A good designer can look at a budget range, and create a good,better, best scenario for a client. Honesty on both sides – the designer and the client, generally will result in a higher level of comfort, and a smoother process all around.
4. Project mechanicals – are you using a printer or that has specific measurements or format that they need you to follow? If you don’t have them, please attach a contacts list with the printing house and point of contact so that the designer can reach out and get that information.
5. Inspirational References – are there things that you’ve seen elsewhere that you like, and might be good to have the designer review? Send some links over with the brief.  This can help a designer in his or her initial conceptual stages.

A great article on design briefs (if you’re interested) can be found here.

I highly recommend clicking the link to the right to download your own easy-to-use basic brief development template that I whipped up.  Just a little friendly document that might help you get dialed into your creative project with a designer that much easier. It’s not perfect, it’s not a solve-all-your problems solution… but it can help. Download it, fill it out, and get some work done!

During the project…

So you’ve reviewed the designer’s proposal, said yes, signed the contract in blood, and had a group hug… now what? If you’ve followed the rules above and the proposal is solid, there’s a good chance that you’ve got some deadlines for delivery of conceptuals, revisions, finals, and the like. Do you want to make sure that things are going to go super-smooth?  Here are some tips…

1. Give your designer some space – You’ve hired a designer because you looked at their work, liked their style, were impressed by their ideas… now let them do what they do best; create. Give them some space to flap their creative wings. Some helpful guidance is one thing, micromanagement is another.
2. Offer insight and revisions that make sense – After you’ve received your first round of conceptual work from your designer, you’re free to make comments as appropriate, but make the comments easy to understand.  Simply drafting an email with the subject  “I want it greener” and no explanation really doesn’t help. As a client, you are going to be living with the final artwork, and you’re going to have to do some work.  You’re going to have to spend some time in the process. Don’t be afraid to use the phone, and follow up the conversation with an email filled with the bullet items. Which leads to my next and most important tip for clients.
3. Clients, be prepared to do some work – Just because you’ve hired a designer and paid them some cash doesn’t mean you’re off the hook as a client. As the client, you need to be responsive to the designer’s requests; you’ll undoubtedly have to provide some clarifications. Drafting documents and doing  a bit of running around may end up being part of your job. Requests from designers for more information, content, or clarification means that they need more information to complete your work.

Red Flags

(or what to watch out for when looking for a designer)

1. No portfolio or references- Kind of self explanatory. A designer unable to provide a references, a  portfolio, or examples of his or her work really shouldn’t be considered for any project, period. There’s not much more to say than that.
2. No proposal – It’s not a good idea to engage a project without the designer producing a proposal that identifies what they’re responsible for. This puts you, the client into a situation where your i’s and t’s are not dotted and crossed, and critical aspects of the project (including items related to the final deliverables) can be overlooked.  Better that you stick to the brief/proposal/contract/professional gameplan. Always remember, a proposal is not a contract. Proposals are simply documents written by the designer to convince the client to choose them over someone else, and to outline the work that is going to be done.  A good proposal identifies the designer’s strengths, areas of expertise, project deliverables and more.  A proposal does the demands on the client. The proposal and what it contains for content will be quite a bit different than the legalese that is in the contract. Keep them separate.
3. No contract – This one is huge for me.  A designer without an appropriate contract puts the client and him or herself at risk, period. When a designer presents you with a standard contract/terms document, it is more than a simple legal document. It’s the expression of the true commitment between client and designer, and more importantly is designed to protect both parties in the unfortunate event that something happens (sometimes unavoidable) that results in the termination of a project or litigation (yuck). If you’re uncontrollably enamored by a designers’ work, and they prefer to work without a contract (chills running down my spine right now), prepare an appropriate contract of your own (yes, you may need a lawyer), and get it signed. We all want to live in that warm and fuzzy world where you can trust everyone, everyone meets deadlines, and no one drops the ball… but that’s just not the world we live in.

With this quick little article, I hope that I have might have given you (whether you’re a client or a designer) a bit of insight into how to make things a bit easier within the process. Understand… I’ve been on both sides.  I’ve been a client working with a designer, and I’ve been a designer working with a client. I only wish that someone had pushed an article like this in front of me 8 years ago… I would have probably saved time, and a good bit of money. Thanks for reading. Make sure to follow me on Twitter, and subscribe to my newsletter to get non-spammy tips, news, and updates like this moving forward.

Just sending off a quick link to you all.  Anne and I had a talk about this recent experience she had today… thought I’d pass it along.  Good stuff.

Click here to read it.

Avoid Hip Crap Designed to Confuse and Redirect.

If you end up researching a marketing consultant, don’t get fooled by the constant streams of buzzwords, snippets, and popular phraseology. Get it straight, and if it doesn’t sound like you’re getting straight treatment, demand it. What’s most important for any business owner is that they understand what they’re paying for.

At Rovettdesign we really do strive to have transparency; we want our clients to understand the process, why we’re using a specific set of tools, and how it will benefit them in the long run. Over and over again, we prove that our diverse set of skills and our dedication to empowering our clients is a winning combination. Our experience in developing marketing plans, integrating it with killer design, and deploying the package the right way can’t be beat. Period.

Setting it Up is Easy, but…

A current example: Sure, it’s really easy to get set up to use Twitter or Facebook and integrate the links into your site…. but why are you actually doing it?  It’s like being given the keys to drive the car, but the car doesn’t end up having any wheels. Many designers and/or marketing companies are happy to take the initial chunk of cash out of your wallet to set you up with the start of something that has been proven to work, drive customers to your website, and make you more money.  But do they give insight into how to make it work? Do they actually empower you to do it yourself? Do they keep their “secrets” close to their chest, or do they truly help you?

I spend a lot of time with clients talking with them about their businesses… their previous marketing (what worked and what didn’t), assessing their current capabilities for employing a marketing campaign, and what (in a straightforward way) they actually have for time and staff to assist in making it all happen. Any “marketing professional” that starts by offering solutions without understanding who they’re talking to should be avoided like the plague. Trust me, I’ve heard the horror stories. I’ve heard them. You’ve told them to me.

Rovettidesign has a straightforward, no nonsense approach.
We meet, assess, review, plan, design, integrate, and deploy.

Doing it all?

Yep.  We sure do. All without the high prices and pretentious BS.

I’m frequently asked “what do you do?”, and I always have to smile.  It takes a bit of time to explain. I do all that’s listed on this site… but more. When neccessary, I bring in incredibly talented folks that are professionals, and pump out fantastic work (I know when I can do something, and more importantly when it may be better executed by one of my teammates). I offer solutions that are truly turnkey. I offer a level of expertise and service that is really hard to match. I have the distinct ability to comfortably speak about design, standards, seo, Twitter, Facebook, photography, print, and more; without confusing the situation. I want the tools that I use work for a client as well. Whew.

One more thing…

I promise that I will never say that I “reinvent real-time convergence” or incubate compelling schemas”, or try to wow you with an obnoxious job title like “super designer guy” or “high-powered marketing wizard master”.  It’s not clever, and neither of us have time for that.

That’s just bullshit.

The workflow model that I employ for my business comes from many years of experiences, good and bad; I learned how businesses succeed with their creative marketing in today’s fast-paced environment from real-life experience. Watching businesses succeed with brilliant creative, and also watching poor marketing drive businesses into the ground. I’ve found that having the option of handling all of the components of a project in a single format makes sense, and saves time and money. Now, we all know that you don’t always have this option.  You may have had a person take some photos of your product, another person do your logo; that’s ok, and we work in those situations all the time.  But when it comes to a fresh project… the one that starts with an idea and a blank piece of paper…. that’s where we’re at home, and where we can really get creative. Combining all of the project aspects into one package saves time and money. Period.

Another advantage of Rovettidesign?

When you get Rovettidesign on a project, you have  the option to have the  project handled completely by Rovettidesign.  The images, the editing, file conversions, the development of print pieces, the printing,  the website, the logo, the videos, the marketing integration… you name it.  Customized turnkey solutions designed to save time and money. I really mean it when I say we’re a one-stop shop.

• You avoid having to manage multiple vendors.
• You save a bunch of time.
• You avoid the aggravation and the “hurry up and wait factor”.
• You have bulletproof reliability from proven pros.
• You get solid, professional results every time.
• You save money.

In a nutshell, you get great value, and you don’t pay for the overhead that comes from a large studio or firm. That’s a nice thing. Why pay for 12 people when you only need two on a project?
Contact us and let us know what you’re looking to do and we’ll be happy to provide you with a free assessment and estimate.

What are you going to spend the money you’ve saved on?

So why Twitter…. what’s the big deal?

Instead of simply reinventing the wheel and spending painful amounts of time, I’ve decided to cannibalize some other sites that have explained it pretty well.

What it is/does: If you join Twitter you can “follow” other twitter users, which causes their updates to appear on your home page. In turn, they can follow you, a form of permission-based marketing. You can also direct message them, but always in 140 characters or less. Twitter communications can be viewed and updated on the Web, through desktop apps, and on mobile devices. Simply put, you get to view and provide short, concise updates as to what you’re doing, or what’s new with your business, life, etc.

Here’s how you might use Twitter for business:

Follow industry leaders who post links to important resources and influence conversations (this really works, I can’t tell you how cool it is)

• Post questions for quick answers and answer others’ questions to establish your credibility and expertise
• Create links to your Web site or blog (don’t over do it or it’s obnoxious and loses value)
• Keep up on the buzz in your industry
• Network with like-minded people.

This little blurb doesn’t even begin to cover following and followers, but I can tell you… you catch on quick. I regularly talk to my clients about incorporating Twitter into their mix, and more often than not, it helps.

Questions on Twitter…?  Then follow me on twitter… I’m ROVETTIDESIGN on Twitter; follow me and I’ll most likely start following you, too. See? That was easy!

Thanks to Rich Brooks for the great Twitter Article that I yanked verbiage from.

And I thought Pandora was cool.  This is an evolution, in a way. Check it out and let me know what you think is better…

The nice thing about Grooveshark is the fact that you have an <embed> option that really looks like it could be cool for blogging and personal sites.

Sometimes it starts simply.  One artist (or client), one designer, and a lot of ideas.  We get together with some paper, some pens and pencils, and our respective tools.  This time around, the project was something my dear friend (and client) Jason Rosen needed to get rolling on.  With his incredible project Monsterwood gaining momentum, he needed to develop some collateral that was going to rock publishers, and keep their eyes on the project and his development blog. Starting a project in an organic fashion often tends to bear sweeter fruit.  There’s an open, frenetic exchange of ideas; what can be done, what can’t, and realistic assessments of budget and time.

The process.  All parts of the process with Rovettidesign are managed like mini-projects.  It’s a fantastic way to manage the variables that pop their heads up when you’d least expect it. You can rest assured that if you’re working with Rovettidesign, you’ve got your bases covered, and your project is going to be handled the right way… from start to finish. The process that we employ to manage projects has been developed from over 8 years of  “in the trenches” design and project management experience. We do it right, we meet deadlines, we save you money, and most importantly… we treat you right.

The design and project development process is something that needs to be enjoyed.  If it isn’t fun and inspiring, you’re doing something wrong. Keep it light, work smart, and work hard. Whether you’re in a board room, or a cozy studio, Rovettidesign can hook you up.

Here are some links that you might be interested in..
Jason Rosen’s Monsterwood – An incredible project that you need to check out.
A quick few shots of Jason’s Studio – Totally cool.
Here’s another link highlighting a more recent bit of work… “The Watcher”

So there’s a quick look at the studio, and some of Jason’s work. Without a doubt, it was fun as hell to get in there and shoot… as well as work with Jason on some Rovettidesign business.

Check out Jason’s website, www.kingjovis.com

It’s very rare that I’ll ever truly be so taken aback by differences in pricing, but when it comes to my business and providing my clients outstanding pricing and service, I can’t keep quiet.

I’m very proud to be able to offer turnkey solutions for my clients; this is one of the things that is so attractive about Rovettidesign; we’re a one-stop shop for almost anything that you can imagine for marketing support, printed collateral, web, and interactive development.  We approach each client’s job as an task and action driven project.  We create internal briefs and timelines that keep us on our toes, and we’ve never missed a deadline.  Never.  We constantly research new and engaging ways that will streamline our workflow, and save our clients time and money.  I repeat.  We do everything we can to research and engage solutions that will SAVE YOU MONEY.  In times like these, we’re super sensitive to the needs of our clients.

With that said…

We have great relationships with two different industry printers, and we’re always satisfied with their service, quality, and performance.  Due to a very tight deadline, I had to get estimates on a print job from a couple of different local printers.  Never again.  Our printers had developed pricing for us, and it was great, as usual… we also requested pricing from two other print houses, who we had been referred to by colleagues.

The difference in pricing was absurd.

The specs were identical, the quantity was 500 units; everything was the same…. and the pricing was so much different our collective jaws dropped.
*as a side note, our printers were also quoting the project with 2nd day air shipping included, and a 2-4 business day turnaround.

There was an average $400.00 dollar difference between our prices and the other printers (our printing was less expensive, of course).

I guess the simple question is: what do you want to do with that extra $400 you save?  Depending on your frequency of print jobs over the course of a year (or hell, 6 months for that matter) you could easily be saving thousands of dollars that could be pumped into other smart marketing, socked away… whatever you want to do with it.

Bottom line is this; please consider Rovettidesign for your next print job.  We have a deep understanding of the process, and have the skills to address and squash any issue that may arise.  We pride ourselves in taking the complexity out of the printing process and providing fast turnaround, and eye-popping quality. Get the ball rolling today, and give us a call or email.  We look forward to hearing from you!

From business cards to postcards,

sellsheets to catalogs,

we’re ready to rock your print job.

Feel free to download it, install it, and use it for whatever you want… have fun!  Let me know if you use it in any of your projects! Just drop me a line at rovettidesign @ gmail.com

Click here to Download Rovetti Print Font (TTF)

Any noobs to this can contact me for installation help… it’s pretty easy to do.

How to Install a font…
Unzip the files you have downloaded, then :

Rovetti Print by Rovettidesign | Stephen Rovetti is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.rovettidesign.com.

I’m always a big supporter of simplicity.  There are so many good reasons to make things simpler in every aspect of your life that it’s almost crazy not to take a few minutes to simply reassess your website, collateral, or marketing layouts, and see what you can do to make things smarter, easier, and more effective.

The very talented Jason Rosen approached me a short amount of time ago, and picked my brain about what he could do to get more hits to his website, and get more people engaged.  His project, Monsterwood, is an absolutely fantastic story; rich, immersive environments, incredible characters, and an unmistakeably powerful and important message.

Instead of pointing Jason down the road of total complexity with fashioning a new website with a new photoshoot and all of the time and effort that’s involved in wireframing development, contracts, and the like, we took the time to sit down and analyze what he really wanted to accomplish.  The long and short of the conversation is that Jason’s needs were really tied to communicating on a very personal basis with his fan base and keeping the world updated on the day to day, week to week operations in his studio.

Keep it simple.  Keep it simple. The best way to communicate in this fashion is to use a blog application WordPress, and some very simple plugins.  WordPress is hands down the best blog out there (sorry Blogger and the rest, but it is true), and after a very short amount of time with the new site up, he has sextupled his hits, gained pagerank, and has (really in like a week’s time) almost 50 registered users, many of whom engage Jason with comments on his posts.  His previous site had super-low traffic, no functionality at all to edit or track visitors, and was completely unmanaged for any kind of SEO.  It was what he could do with the small bits of time that he had while working hard on the Monsterwood project.

Jason’s setup is really great.  He relies on no one but himself to create and manage content, can do it at his own speed, and is really happy to have the functionality and plug-in options of WordPress at his fingertips.

All in all, a great end (and beginning, too) to the story.  It continues to reinforce the Rovettidesign model… keep it simple, straightforward, and organic.  You’re guaranteed to have honest results if you are honest with what you need your marketing to do for you.  Generally every client of mine goes through the grinder before I even begin to talk about websites.  Getting to know a client and their needs automatically ensures that the right decision will be recommended.

There are many times that a blog and a blog alone isn’t what a client would need at all; but in this case, doing an initial assessment of Jason’s needs has ended up with what what we pride ourselves on… a simple, bombproof solution specifically catering to the client’s needs.  Trackable results, and incredible turnaround time from start to finish.

Make sure to check out Jason’s site, register, and of course… if anyone out there needs a bit of insight, consultation, or reccommendations made for their online, print, interactive… you name it; give me a call, or email me.