Monday, June 27, 2011

The Idea People Discover the Accidental Charlotte Entrepreneurs

accidential entrepreneurs3 The Accidental Charlotte Entrepreneur   Displaced Workers are Starting Internet Businesses!The Idea People is seeing a trend here in Charlotte with executives and senior level managers being displaced by job layoffs and starting their own Internet businesses!  So far this year, we have had five (5) displaced executives begin separate Internet businesses with our assistance.

These are very smart, motivated, experienced business executives who have, through no fault of their own, become instant entrepreneurs.  And what an exciting time this is to start a business.  The Internet and web site development business is not a “foreign” thing to entrepreneurs.  Not like it was 5-10 years ago.  Smart business people have embraced the Internet and web technologies in a personal manner.  Think smart phones, iPads, Blackberries, laptops, etc.

It is much easier and affordable to put your ideas and dreams in motion with an Internet-based business today than it was just 5 years ago.  The web design and development market has been “shaken and cleared”accidential entrepreneurs1 300x182 The Accidental Charlotte Entrepreneur   Displaced Workers are Starting Internet Businesses! here in Charlotte as well.  It seemed that everybody was a web designer just 2 years ago!  But smart business people and entrepreneurs know that their next door neighbor’s kid won’t cut it for designing and developing a real Internet-based business.

And the speed to market is good right now.  An entrepreneur can get their idea from paper to fully-functional Internet business in under 5 months.  That’s fast.  So much can be done behind-the-scenes during those start-up months in preparation for a launch.

This is a good time in our economy and business cycle to put your ideas into reality.  Service-based business ideas are good for Internet start-ups.  Training, business process automations, cloud-based transactions, social media platforms, and business resource sites are all good Internet business models.

accidential entrepreneurs2 The Accidental Charlotte Entrepreneur   Displaced Workers are Starting Internet Businesses!It’s a great time to be the Accidental Charlotte Entrepreneur!

What can The Idea People do for you?  We can take your idea from concept to complete Internet business model.  We do all of the creative strategy, branding, design, web development, back-end programming, marketing planning, advertising and full launch strategy in-house.  We have 17+ years of helping companies of all sizes build their brands and grow their business.

If you have a business idea and would like to schedule a private meeting to discuss the possibilities of turning it into an Internet-based business, please contact Jay Joyce with The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  We’ll give you our honest opinion, a schedule of how to make it happen, and some ideas on how to support your dreams and help make them come true!

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Monday, June 20, 2011

Charlotte Web Design Creativity is Still Needed to Mirror Your Internet Marketing Efforts!

alarm bell Charlotte Web Design Creativity Rivals Search Engine & Internet MarketingWe don’t want to alarm our SEO and Internet marketing clients, but every business website still needs creativity to represent your company’s brand, culture, products/services, and the marketing messages.  The SEM and business blogs are vitally important for your website and business to be “found” on the Internet, but customers will still judge your web presence with a creative eye.

The Idea People believes in the best combination of website creativity and Internet marketing to build successful business websites and online campaigns.  We have long lived by our self-generated design mantra of “it has to look good to feel good to be good.”  Your website visitors echo the same sentiment with the clicks of their collective mouses (mice).  If it is not pleasing to their senses or doesn’t make them feel good, they’re gone in a flash.  And that entire transaction takes place in about 2 seconds.

So what does your Charlotte web design need to capture a visitor’s attention once they have clicked on your website?  The Idea People designs all business websites to have five (5) creative hooks to help stabilize high visitor bounces.

  1. Matching color palettes that are supportive of your brand and not distracting.  Have you seen the website that web design2 Charlotte Web Design Creativity Rivals Search Engine & Internet Marketingcauses your mind to say “bleh” because the lime green business logo clashes with the beautiful red and black color palette.  Balance the colors.
  2. High-level navigation categories that feed down to the sub-categories easily.  This is called good site hierarchy.  We like to build website navigation so a visitor can get to what they need within 2 clicks.  Remember, these visitors are NOT patient!
  3. Consistent page design and layout.  Every page inside the website should “look” like it matches and belongs in the site.  Nothing is worse than to be clicking into a website and suddenly run across a page that looks like an after-thought.  Keep the page design and layout consistent.
  4. Poor grammar and spelling in copy or the copy is written only for search engine rankings.  We’ve all seen that.  It’s annoying.  Plus it is a bad image for your brand.  Would you send out a sales proposal with poor grammar and spelling?  Of course not.
  5. Use some new web technologies.  Today’s web surfers and visitors are savvy.  Your business website design should have social media connections, photo galleries, video messages, mobile compatibility, cross-browser compatibility, some creative “wow” factors that are appropriate, and fast page download times.

internet marketing2 Charlotte Web Design Creativity Rivals Search Engine & Internet MarketingSearch engine and Internet marketing are very important, obviously.  But once you have them on your website, the search engine and Internet marketing are finished and the creativity takes over.  The click of a mouse can abruptly end your hard SEO work if your web site’s creativity is out of tune.  Then, they are off to a competitor.

Call Jay Joyce at The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com to schedule a private business meeting to discuss your company’s website creative and Internet marketing strategies.  We look forward to talking with you soon!



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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Asheville Web Design Client Gets Ready to Launch New Asheville Website!

truck home2 300x120 The Idea People to Launch New Asheville Website Design for ClientThe Idea People has been working on a cutting-edge new website design and website application for Asheville-based 777-JUNK and will be ready to launch by July 1st!

The new Asheville web design for 777-JUNK greatly enhances the company and brand’s public image while introducing a sophisticated online appointment scheduling component for customers!  777-JUNK is the premier junk removal and hauling company serving Asheville and Western North Carolina customers.

The new creative web design for the 777-JUNK website features their signature famous blue trucks with their 777-JUNK white phone number on the sides of each truck.  Because the area code in Western North Carolina is 828, there is no need for customers to dial the area code in front of the telephone number!

The online appointment scheduling software will allow customers to easily browse available appointments and select theZip Code Box 300x184 The Idea People to Launch New Asheville Website Design for Client date and time that best matches their personal schedule.  Once the customer has selected their appointment date and time, it is automatically removed from the inventory of available times so there is never an appointment overlap or duplication.  The online scheduling component will work just as easily with a customer’s smart phone connection.

The Idea People will also be launching a market-wide social media and Internet marketing campaign to further brand the 777-JUNK identity and name as the primary, professional junk removal service in Asheville.

The new Asheville website for 777-JUNK launches July 1st.  If your company would like to learn more about combining website design creativity, social media and Internet marketing, and developing custom online software applications for your customers, please call Jay Joyce at The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.

 

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Charlotte Internet Marketing & Facebook Business Marketing Takes Your Company to Places & Deals

Facebook Deals Logo Charlotte Facebook Marketing with Facebook Deals & PlacesFace it, Facebook for the benefit of your business and customers is here to stay, and thank goodness!  Facebook is the dominant social media engine for all things social with your customers.  And now Facebook has developed a new program for our business pages to adopt to reach new customers.  It’s called Facebook Deals.  And it’s only available in a limited amount of cities.  Charlotte is included.

Your business may have used Facebook business pages, Facebook Ads and Facebook Places as tools to keep your name in front of social-media-hungry customers.  Facebook Deals is a pretty cool concept to tie the tools together. Facebook Deals gives your business an opportunity to reward customers when they check-in on Facebook, to encourage in-store traffic, and to build customer loyalty.

Facebook Deals can help connect your business with people.  And Facebook Deals is free, for now, for certain businesses to try and use in Charlotte.  But there is a protocol to follow to get your “deal” approved!

Facebook Deals come in four “flavors”:  Individual Deals for a one-time offer, Loyalty Deals for repeat customers, Friend Facebook Deals Logo2 Charlotte Facebook Marketing with Facebook Deals & PlacesDeals for groups of up to 8 people at a time, and Charity Deals for a donation of your choice each time somebody claims one of your deals.  Easy, right?

How Do I Create My Facebook Deals?

It’s fairly easy to create your Facebook Deals…they just have to be specific and of a good value.  Just visit your business Facebook Place and log-in.  You’ll see the “Create Deal” button at the top right of your Place.  Follow the easy instructions as you create your Deal.

All Deals are subject to review and approval with Facebook!  Here at The Idea People, we created several Facebook Deals for two clients and we had to re-submit each one at least 3 times before Facebook approved the Deals.

Facebook Deals Logo3 Charlotte Facebook Marketing with Facebook Deals & PlacesSo What’s the Deal with Creating a Good Deal?

  1. Create a dramatic Deal (i.e., 50% off your first visit, consultation, etc.)
  2. Specify your Deal’s duration (Facebook wants the Deal to last at least 1 week)
  3. Be very specific with the wording of your Deal (i.e., Buy one, get one free!)
  4. Be specific as to how the user redeems your Deal (i.e., Show your phone screen to the cashier!)

Facebook Deals are one more element to reach out to your customers.  Try it.  And let us know how it works for you.  If you would like to learn more about how your Charlotte business can benefit through the use of Internet and social media marketing, please call Jay Joyce at The Idea People at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.  The Idea People does accept Facebook Deals!

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