Last week we typed out a post about how to continually come up with blog topics for posts if you are on a tight blogging schedule.  This week we are going to continue on that track and talk about how formatting a post can not only help turn an idea into a full blown post but it can also help make the post more desirable for readers (and search engines at times).  As a Denver marketing company we have come to terms with each of these steps and their benefits and embrace them. 

1. A 5 step program: For some reason people like numbered posts.  There has probably been research done on the thought process behind why people do, but we don’t have that.  We simply know that if you can sit down, look at your article idea and put 5 steps to it, not only will it give you more paragraphs to talk about, it will be something that a reader enjoys to see. (It doesn’t have to be 5, it can be 2, 3, 4, even 10 or 12 whatever fits for the post.)
2. Bulleted Points: Obviously 5 steps doesn’t solve everything.  However blog posts typically have some structure to them.  If you can pull key thoughts out, elaborate on them and highlight them this will expand your post rapidly. The unique thing about  bulleted points (and more so of bolding) it makes the post look different.  A change in text size and boldness can actually be detected by search engines and those phrases can be chronicled as the key topics for the post.  This also helps with readers knowing what to share about the post and remembering what they read from it.
3. Typing with an end in mind: Bloggers can be creative (that’s right, give yourself a pat on the back) but that creativity can get the best of us.  A great blog topic comes to mind, however it’s way too elaborate to fit into one post.  This is when you sit down, brainstorm, and determine how to get the topic out in a clear and concise message (all the while expanding the amount of posts you are developing).  All the sudden a blog idea that seems impossible has turned into a six part blog series.
4. Pairing like concepts: The exact opposite of the last point, sometimes there is a blog idea but you can only think of 100 words.  If you can’t implement one of the first three strategies then employ this one.  This happens often when we write posts, if we aren’t typing with the end in mind, then we are pairing like concepts.  A great example of this comes from our PR Principles blog series when we wrote about both Video News Releases and Micro-blogging.  In the PR world both of these are just starting so the information on them is very limit.  So we simply combined them under the PR Principles umbrella.
5. Examples: Sometimes there is a complex concept that doesn’t need to be expanded upon into multiple points however it needs to be explained.  This is where you can take a fun topic that you enjoy blogging about and make the complex become simple.  We did this when we wrote out our Inbound Marketing for Business series.  We used everyday social media examples to help understand deeper subjects.

We have provided with five different ways to format a post in order to get the most from it, if you have any more suggestions please leave them in the comments below!

How about a cool web site?

Now that we have discussed ways to expand blog posts and make them top notch how about some information on how to have a top notch web site?

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Recently a new music service entitled Spotify was released here in America — currently it is still an invitation-only application. We as a Denver internet marketing company like to observe how new products launch and take note of things that we can use for future reference.  We are going to take a look at 4 lessons that Spotify has taught us with their launch that any company could use.

First lets look at some back history on Spotify.  Spotify was launched in 2008 in Sweden.  Before Spotify came to America it had 10 million European users.  They also offer over 15 million songs, in an on demand, no buffering, free (legally!).

So what can we learn from this growing service?

1. Start Slow

Sometimes we get it in our heads that bigger is better.  Spotify is running in limited release and throughout their time they haven’t been looking to be the next big thing.  They have simply been looking to fulfill a need.  By what they are doing currently, they pique interest in a way that stirs conversation (we are blogging about them, for instance) and avoid any kind of place where they have to stop invites (like Google+) or overrun their servers too quickly.

2. Build Hype

When going to launch a business would you rather start out with no one knowing who you are or having people begging to use your services?  Hopefully the answer would be the latter.  Spotify had 10 million European users to build hype for Americans before it launched.  Now, those American users who have invitations (or Klout) are here on the ground in America continuing that hype.

3. People Want to Buy in

This could be viewed by a stretch (if you aren’t a music junkie). With limit invites and what seems to be a plan to slowly release access to the service, more people are willing to pay for the upgrade in order to have the service.  Spotify doesn’t seem to be seeking to remove free music streaming anytime soon, but the perks of any recorded song imaginable at a persons fingertips, without ads is very tantalizing and for some people a point to buy in.  (Over 15% of European users already have).

4. Ensure Quality for Every User

The three points previous build to this final point. By starting slow, it builds hype but within that hype there must be a quality that the users enjoy.  A quality that makes some users even willing to pay for the service.  However all these things compounded together ensure quality for every user.  A quality that is funded through the people who buy in, sold by the people who build hype and controlled through the slow and meticulous release of the service.

So when looking to start a new project or business venture, here are four things that we can put to use from the people at Spotify. Which of these four would you rate as the best lesson learned?

Also we’d like to congratulate Nicholas Weems for winning an invitation to Spotify from us! Check him out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/naweems.

Learn About RSS Feeds

Now that we have looked at some things we can learn from Spotify, we have an ebook that will continue that learning focused on RSS Feeds.  Now you can take what’s learned from Spotify to help with content posted through an RSS Feed!

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Google recently released a web-based tool to write your own stories as expressed in Google searches.  We used it to develop a short story chronicling the birth of Chris Strom, LLC.  As is oftentimes the case, our company was born from the ashes of previous companies.  The ending is extrapolated into the future slightly — currently most of the people who work on our company’s contracts are independent contractors rather than salaried employees — but we’ll get to that point eventually…

The finished ARMY360 logo

Recently we pulled out some of the doodles we had made as we was brainstorming the visual identity of the ARMY360 software application for InVisM and figured we’d share some of them on our website.

As stated in the project description, the design spec simply listed the product name and called for an ellipsoid, “360°” shape.  Given that this application was built specifically for the US Army, we turned to imagery of military crests, medallions and patches — such as these — for most of our brainstorming.  We also added in part of the application interface — the 360° directional marker — and added it to the center of the image.  The bottom center sketch below became the basis for the final logo.

Various sketches made while brainstorming

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I love studying the languages and cultures of the peoples of the world, and integrating them into my work—one look at my graphic design portfolio will demonstrate that.  While up to this point most of my non-English design work has involved Chinese language and cultural elements—no surprise given that I lived in China for 3 years—I’ve always been keen to observe the shapes and forms, and the creative possibilities inherent within, in the written languages and traditional folk patterns of other people groups.  I especially love seeing examples of Arabic calligraphy. The letterforms in Arabic calligraphy run the gamut from traditional, highly readable letterforms, as can be seen here, to highly stylized, abstracted letterforms, as can be seen here.

The communication design blog Graphicology recently posted galleries of Arabic typography, focusing on how famous English-language Western brand identities translate visually into the Arabic script.  It’s pretty interesting to see how the companies translate their identities into an entirely different script, while still trying to retain a consistent visual branding across both languages.  Graphicology has a gallery of brand identities here, and a gallery of packaging design here.  Check it out, and let me know what you think.

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