Designs by Rudy: July 2013

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Online Video Marketing | Video Dominance over Text

Utilizing online video marketing for the services your business offers or product(s) you sell is undoubtedly extremely important.

Just look around you:

The amount of commercials you see on TV is staggering – they are all videos even if displaying only text messages.

The advertisements on Internet portals serving news – majority of them are videos.

Have you ever asked yourself why are they serving so much of that video footage instead of writing articles. Or even if there is an article, why is there a video accompanying it?

The answer is simple, because it works! And it works because most people prefer watching one minute of video versus skimming over a page of text. Look at the numbers below and think about showing your potential clients what you have to offer, grabbing their attention and forcing them to pick up the phone and call your number.

Courtesy of: BuboBox.com

Is the online video marketing good for you? I guess you’ll need to try it to answer this question.

Online Video Marketing | Video Dominance over Text

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Custom Coffee Table | Concrete Glass Tops | Copper Tubing Legs

I designed and build this coffee table as a projection of a half-moon shaped staircase and adjoining entry hall. The 1 1/4″ steel wire mash reinforced concrete slab is approximately 60″ long by 27″ wide and supported on 1.5″ diameter copper frame and legs. Upper glass top is a 24″ square.

Custom Coffee Table | Concrete Glass Tops | Copper Tubing Legs

Friday, July 19, 2013

Benefits of Using Wordpress for your Business Website Design

I started using the WordPress platform to create websites in 2010. Similar to every other product, there was a learning curve… I also wanted to compare static HTML coded websites (which I used to work with before) to dynamic WordPress based websites.

Since I prefer working with images and modules versus lines of letter and numbers (to be honest with you I don’t love coding that much), WordPress was easy to embrace. Although it has been developed as a blogging platform, its various, typical to blogs functions can be active or inactive, making WordPress extremely flexible and fairly easy to adopt to anyone’s needs.

What’s the benefit for the average business owner? Dynamic WordPress websites are considered CMS, or Content Management Systems. This means that with a little basic training, they can be updated with new pictures, texts, videos, etc by a business owner (fairly simply, too). However, building a website based on WordPress and using custom graphics and modules that will make it more appealing to you can present a challenge for those who are not familiar with computer functions outside of e-mails and news websites.

I believe there are a few ideas business owner should consider while contemplating building / having their business website developed using a WordPress platform:

If you are willing to invest some of your spare time into learning the basics of WordPress, you’ll be able to build your local business website using FREE WordPress platform, FREE templates (thousands of them), and you don’t even need to purchase a domain name. While a WordPress domain name does not look very professional, it is available to use and won’t cost you a penny.

Assuming the design and deployment of your local business website is performed by a third party, you can quickly take control of your website’s main functions after brief training as soon as the site is ready. You’ll be able to add, edit existing, or remove any content.

There are literally thousands of free and purchasable plug-ins (scripts) that extend the functionality of a WordPress based website. Their installation usually only requires the click of a mouse and the plug-in you are looking for probably already exists. Just ask me if you need one!

It is extremely easy to connect your WordPress based business website to popular social portals such as: Google Plus, Facebook business fan page, Twitter, your LinkedIn profile, and a YouTube business video channel. Even if you are unsure of how to start socializing your brand or simply don’t have any time, it’s important to do because it has become a business necessity. With WordPress, it becomes almost automatic – with every update on your website, a direct link will be posted through your social media sites.

A majority of recently developed WordPress templates that can be used for website creation are responsive, which means that they adopt to the screen size of a device used to open your page. That means that you don’t need separate mobile and desktop sites and it should look good on a computer monitor, tablet, or an Internet enabled phone (should is the key word here because different operating systems may make the site look slightly different).

Blogging modules allow interaction with your clients and help build trust.

Big brands are using it, like: EBay, Yahoo, Digg, Ford, The Wall Street Journal, Sony, People Magazine, Samsung, Playstation, and many more. They are using it because of its functions, ability to grow, expand, and adopt.

Feel free to ask me any questions concerning your WordPress based local business website development.

Benefits of Using Wordpress for your Business Website Design

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Create and Promote your Own Videos Step by Step | Design and Promotion

For all of you anxious to create your first business video, upload it to YouTube, and start promoting it – this is for you. Here’s a blueprint that will help you get through this process easily and quickly, so don’t skip anything!

I won’t go into details in most areas like teaching you how to operate video software, create captions, annotations, etc since most of the items listed below are very extensive subjects which require further exploration.

Professional, high quality, and expensive cameras are not necessary to create high-definition video clips. Most smartphones already have the capabilities to shoot HD footage, so if you have a camera-equipped phone, search for the 1280×720 resolution option. You might have a higher resolution, even, but footage may sometimes look like its floating unless you have an extremely steady hand or use a tripod.

The only requirement for opening your own Youtube channel is having a Gmail account. Unless you have one already open, a Gmail account using a name you’d like to associate your business profile with is recommended.

Click the YouTube tab on a top bar of your Gmail account and signup to YouTube.

Try picking a username that is somehow associated with your business, service or product. For examples, a local plumbing business can try: AddisonPlumber or PlumbingChicago. It may be taken, of course, so try adding a digit at the beginning or end. The username can be a maximum of 20 characters and only letters/numbers are permitted.

In the channel description section, write your business information, along with a link to your business website. You can customize the channel by uploading a logo and large image of your company.

There are many ways to create videos with various media types. You can use actual video footage shot at your workplace; I recommend assembling several short clips (7-10 seconds long) unless you are videotaping a conversation. You can also use pictures, transform PowerPoint presentations into a video, or combine both.

To assemble your videos, various free online programs can be used such as Animoto.com (the free version only allows 30 seconds of footage) or one of your native computer programs – Windows Movie Maker or the Mac iMovie.

Besides assembling your footage, I highly recommend branding each of the videos with your business name, at least in the beginning and end, or even through the entire clip as a semi-transparent logo.

While creating your video, you can use a short intro showing the business logo for a few seconds and an outro at the end, which ideally should be around 20 seconds and display your “Call to Action”. Call to Action should include your best contact information, asking viewers to call, visit your website, share the video, like the video, etc. Give your potential client a chance and reason to contact you now, not later.

Once you have your video assembled and prepared for rendering, set the settings to a 1280×720 resolution, and use H.264, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, WMV, .AVI and .MOV formats, 44.1KHz Stereo MP3 or AAC audio, frame rate as the original video. I believe that for your basic marketing purposes, your video should be somewhere around 1 or (maximum) 2 minutes long, unless it is extremely entertaining.

Before uploading your video to YouTube, make sure you name the newly created video file using your main keyword phrase (use Google Keyword Tool for suggestions), or a variation of it, along with your best contact phone number. In the plumber example, your title could look like this: Plumber in Addison (708) 123 4567 Emergency Plumbing Service

Login to your YouTube account, upload the video, and remove video format extensions from the title so that it looks like this:Plumber in Addison | (708) 123 4567 | Emergency Plumbing Service

Make the description as long as possible, close to a full article, because YouTube and Google can read it best when it’s long. Use your main keywords and related words in that description so it looks natural, and follow the first words or first sentence with a full address of your website (including the http) so that it is clickable. Paste your video link at the very end of this description.

Fill in tags, location (where your business is located), captions, and annotations. Make your website address inside the video clickable so that viewers don’t have to look for it in your description.

The most important thing to optimize your clip is to make it viral. Put the video on your website, upload it to Facebook, G+, and other social profiles. Ask everyone you know to watch it, like it, comment, subscribe, and any other option to make it look popular to search engines. This will help your video show up on the first page of search results and make your work worthwhile.

While this is a rough outline of the process, many more details exist – especially in item number 14. Explore this whole process more, test it out, make videos, and repeat it all again.

Let me know if you need help!

Create and Promote your Own Videos Step by Step | Design and Promotion

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Benefits of Online Video Marketing - Infographic

Maybe you’ve been considering video marketing but are afraid of difficulties that might be associated with the entire process. Well, forget about it for a second (there’s really nothing difficult about it) and look at a few huge benefits of video marketing:

Courtesy of: BuboBox.com

The Benefits of Online Video Marketing - Infographic

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Sheet Metal Abstract Composition | Bird on Canvas

Bird on Canvas

The credit for designing and cutting sheet metal pieces in this composition goes to… to be honest with you, I don’t know who did that and I have no idea if this was a single piece or there were hundreds of them made.

It happened several years ago, a friend of mine found it in a pretty bad shape and gave it to me. There were pieces of corroding metal attached to an inch thick crumbling slab of concrete, I’m not even sure if what you see on the pictures below matches that original composition.

What I did is got rid of the concrete, cleaned up and spray-painted sheet metal pieces, arranged them the way you see it on framed canvas, and gave it a name. Well, I came up with “Bird on Canvas” name while writing this description but you are welcome to change it .

: Bird on Canvas – front view

: Bird on Canvas – left angle view

: Bird on Canvas – right angle view

Sheet Metal Abstract Composition | Bird on Canvas

Monday, July 15, 2013

Copper Trimmed Half Table and Mirror Design

Table and Mirror Design

A mirror is just a reflection of whatever or whoever is standing in front of it. Nothing more, just a reflection. One could always enhance that view is by framing it, but still, once that object leaves, it doesn’t matter anymore..

That’s where the copper trimmed half table surface comes in. It’s supported with copper tubing and delicately grips the mirror without obstructing its view.

: Table and mirror full view

: Full top view of the table

: Table and mirror closup detail

: Side-top view of the table

: Edge view of the table

Copper Trimmed Half Table and Mirror Design

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Jelly Bean Coffee Table, Glass Top, Stainless Steel, and Wood Frame

This unique coffee table design was influenced by shapes of the Cameleon Jelly Beans sofa set. I chose stainless steel, wood, and glass in my project to complement other elements inside the family room.

: Full view of the frame

: Frame rear section closeup

: Full left view

: Square end closeup section

: Left-rear view

: Right-rear view

: Full right view

: Right-top view

: Round end closeup section

Jelly Bean Coffee Table, Glass Top, Stainless Steel, and Wood Frame

Friday, July 12, 2013

Social Media Branding and Optimization

What exactly is Social Branding and why does your business need it today?

Even if you’re unfamiliar with computers, smart phones, tablets, televisions, and any other imaginable form of news and/or media service devices, you probably still notice the same commercials, brands, and logos showing up everywhere, no matter what platform you’re using.

This is “branding”. It’s blasting the name of a business and information about the service/product everywhere, utilizing every billboard available. Once you flash it several times to a prospective client, an imprint on his subconscious memory forms. At some point, when a service or product is required and it is associated with your brand, that memorized snippet of information about your offer comes to mind.

Social branding is just one part of this entire marketing trend that has been around for decades. You have your logo printed on business cards and visible on your website, so why not display it from your Facebook business page, Google Plus profile, Google Plus Local, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn accounts? If you are not doing so already, you may be missing a big social media audience that your competitors are already exploring.

Although not every business will benefit directly from these social profiles, what’s important is that, thanks to social branding, you can become recognizable by having a uniform image across all the platforms you utilize. You need to give every single person a chance to get to know you. If you’re not there, they don’t have a chance. It’s as simple as that!

If you already have these major social profiles created, but each looks different, there’s no common element that tells a person it’s the same company.

Remember – the image is what potential customers see first before reading what’s underneath. First impressions go a long way, and generally determine whether the viewer will stay or move on.

Click at the social buttons below to see what “social branding” looks like.

Social Media Branding and Optimization

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Local Video Marketing | Video Creation and Promotion

Local video marketing for businesses

Most of you are reading this for one of two reasons: you’d like to get some ideas for a website or you are considering local video marketing as an option for your business. If it’s the latter, the process may appear difficult and even scary if this is your first approach towards this thriving marketing field.

Rest assured – there’s nothing to be intimidated by since I take care of the entire process of creating, marketing / promoting the video online. If you have your own video or pictures in digital form, using them will speed up the process and save you money as well.

The objective is to always reach the first page of Google with your local video, largely because most consumers rarely click beyond the first page. In other words, what’s the point of creating a video no one will ever see?

I must disclose one important thing: unlike many other companies, I cannot guarantee that your video will reach the first page for one simple reason – neither they nor I own the Google search engine, and we have no control over the search and placement algorithm changes. I can, however, guarantee that, except for one, there is not a single local market video (including within the Chicago market) that I created and promoted for my clients that has not reached the first page of Google (check my portfolio section).

Question: How long does it usually take in local video marketing to reach the first page of Google’s search results?

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Answer: Although there are several key elements that have an impact on the time frame (the main one being competition), the process usually takes between two and four weeks. On the other hand, the process may be as fast as a day or two, or last longer than one month. Remember, my job is to get the video popular on Google’s search results, not only the YouTube (where that can sometimes be as quick as a few minutes after uploading and publishing).

Question: Will you create videos and run promotional campaigns for more than one company for the same business category in a single city (i.e. two roofing companies in Naperville)?

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Answer: I might create videos for two roofing companies, but I will not run promotional campaigns for them in the same city, unless each focuses on completely different keywords / phrases.

For example:

Cedar roof installations in Naperville

Asphalt shingle roof installations in Naperville

In order to make a final decision on whether local video marketing is the best choice for you, I’d like you to go over 3 video marketing infographics starting from this one – Video versus Text . Don’t get left behind in this marketing field and keep losing customers! There are still opportunities for you to start dominating your competition in a short period of time using local video marketing.

Local Video Marketing | Video Creation and Promotion