you only have 3 seconds

The look and message of your trade show display are pivotal to attracting trade show attendees to your booth. In a crowded and competitive exhibition hall, you only have about three seconds to make an impression on people passing by your display area. Your trade show stand design and overall exhibit appeal help determine how many prospects you can draw into your display area to learn more about your product offerings. Therefore, the following tips will help ensure your trade show display and booth components support your sales needs.

Always Focus on Your Target Audience

Think like a trade show visitor and keep your target audience in mind while designing your booth and crafting its main marketing message. With just a quick glance, a show attendee should be able to ascertain what products and services you are offer — and what makes you unique from the competition.

Create Visual Appeal

Limit the colors you use in your booth design to three or less. The same goes for textures you use in your booth such as vinyl, plastic, and metal. Exhibit displays that use too many colors and textures look cluttered and thus tend to get overlooked. Use multimedia to create an engaging, interactive booth. Audio, video, and animation are highly effective at grabbing the attention of passerby.

Use Memorable Graphics and Text

Make sure the graphics you use are consistent with those in your promotional literature in order to create a memorable display. If you need to display a lot of information, consider the size of your overall exhibit space and graphics. Small displays should only focus on one strong point so as not to be overwhelming. No matter the size of your booth, too much text on your signs and displays can make your booth look cluttered and even dissuade visitors from stopping. Keep the text as concise as possible and make sure that it is visible from a distance. Text should be placed in the upper half of your trade show display so people in front of your booth don’t block it and prevent others from seeing it. To ensure that text is easy to read, avoid placing it over textured backgrounds.

More people will be attracted to your trade show booth if you implement a simple, yet powerful design, use minimal text, and select coordinated colors that complement your brand image.

Make the most of FREE Press Releases

The Press Release Optimization Triangle

PR Optimization Segment #1: SEO

In order for news to be effective, it must be discoverable by those who are interested. Optimizing your news so that it can be found in the search engines for strategic keywords provides a powerful way to reach highly targeted customers and influencers.

Title Optimization: The most heavily weighted factor that determines for which keywords a press release will rank is its title. Placing your primary keyword phrase toward the beginning of the title tends to have the strongest impact on ranking for those keywords. However, the title needs to reflect the news angle and be written with clickthrough in mind, and not only keywords.

Summary Optimization: The second-most heavily weighted SEO factor is the summary. The summary is an ideal place to introduce one or two additional keyword phrases while elaborating on the news angle introduced by the title. Within a well-optimized press release distribution site or news site, the title becomes the title tag and the summary becomes the meta description. The same technical rules apply to optimizing a title tag and meta description in terms of keywords as they do when optimizing a press release title and summary.

Keyword Anchor Text Linking: The ability to build strategic anchor text backlinks from trusted sources is one of the SEO’s most exciting reasons for publishing press releases. Because some press release distribution sites push full-page reprints of your press release out to additional partner sites, a single press release can net a significant number of backlinks using your chosen keyword phrases.

PR Optimization Segment #2: Clickthrough Optimization

The purpose of a press release is to hook the reader with the news release and then direct traffic to your website. Online press releases are essentially landing pages for your business designed to drive traffic. Optimizing for clickthrough helps you achieve that conversion goal.

Make Use of Multimedia Features: Including images, videos, logos, file downloads and links to other Web properties and assets allows readers to become immersed in your message through a variety of senses. When given the opportunity, make use of as many multimedia options as your press release distribution site allows.

Embedded Website Navigation via iFrame: If you have the option to add an iFrame in your release, choose to link to a page that is a natural extension of the message announced in your press release. For example, if announcing a new product, display the product page in the iFrame instead of the sites’ homepage.

Include a Call-to-Action: A press release is a tool used to entice readers to visit your site — give them clear direction on how and why to do so. Some ideas are to send them to your website to download a free ebook, or to read full details about the product, or to subscribe to your mailing list for tips and information related to the announcement.

PR Optimization Segment #3: Editorial Optimization

Press release sites are news sites and they take their role seriously in order to stay in good graces with Google. Submitting a press release that risks falling outside of the criteria of a press release in Google’s virtual eyes is likely to get kicked back for further editing.

In order for your press release to pass the human editing process, it should adhere to the following three critical editorial points:

A Valid And Clearly Stated News Angle from Within Your Company: The purpose of a press release is to announce something new and timely such as a new product or service, limited time sale or contest, participation in an upcoming event, etc. That news also needs to originate from the company announcing the news. Writing about another company’s news is an article. The reader should be able to determine exactly what the press release is announcing by reading the title and summary.

Written in Third-Person: Aside from a direct attributed quote, a press release is written in third person and does not use causal language such as referring to the reader as “you” or the author as “I” or “we.”

Attribution of Claims: Claims that could be interpreted as opinions should be attributed in a press release. For example, instead of opinions like “…the best real estate software on the market,” present attributable facts such as “…deemed the best real estate software on the market by XYZ magazine.”

Done correctly, press releases can be a powerful part of your online marketing and visibility mix. The release itself ranks well in the search engines — few other types of user-generated content can rank almost instantly upon publication. Furthermore, optimized backlinks within the release work to build link value for your site for years to come.

Christine O’Kelly is an SEO content marketing strategist specializing in optimized press releases. She is the co-founder of OnlinePRMedia.com, an SEO and multimedia press release distribution resource.

leadership builds on history

I recently attended my third Hutchinson Leadership Institute session.  I learned so much about the city of Hutchinson I never knew before.  The session lasted all day and took us back in time to Hutchinson’s beginnings. We toured historic homes, businesses, and community places.  Each telling a piece of history that has made Hutchinson what it is today.  I found out why Hutchinson has a deep heritage and appreciation of the arts.  Founded by the “Singing Hutchinson Brothers” has made an impact on the community, even so that the new Senior Care Center was named after them – Harmony River Living Center.  It just has a peacful ring to it doesn’t it?  The stop at the State Theatre and to be able to stand in the magnificent recreation of what it used to be “in the day” and what it is now. I love the bring your own bowl day! The trip led us to the Little Crow statue, the Opera House, the old hotel where the Chamber of Commerce offices reside, and the final stop was the McLeod County Historical Society and Museum.  Again, a history of art with the Les Kouba display and the museum tour showing some of the ways “we used to print” newspapers and brochures.  “Cuts” were placed into a form with metal type when you wanted to use a graphic. 

    

 

Perhaps the most important lesson is that in order to lead a community in the right direction, you need to know where it has come from and what how it will impact its future.  In fact, I think it is no accident that Moxie Media has found its home in Hutchinson, Minnesota.  It just feels right. And it feels like home, a place where we can build our future.

Park Towers awarded logo design

This summer, Moxie Media participated as a sponsor in the Hutchinson Chamber Golf Tournament event.  We were set up at the 7th hole with a Hawaiian themed display and gave away metal water bottles to each golfer. We also gave away a prize worth $500 for a free logo design and printed material.

Park Towers won our prize and were excited for the opportunity to get a logo professionally designed.  We worked with Lorri Olson and Jean Ward on their design preferences and created several logo design concepts for them to review.  Both Lorri and Jean quickly came to a consensus on what they wanted for their Park Towers logo.

Lori has begun to use their new logo on communications and advertising.Get acquainted with Park Towers new logo!

A sea of gold Tiger Pride T-shirts

If you are from or visiting the Hutchinson area, you likely have seen people wearing a gold colored T-shirt with the public school tiger logo on the front and their district’s values listed on the back-side.  There are over 550 of them out there!  Moxie Media was delighted to provide the Hutchinson Public, ISD 423, with these T’s that the entire staff wore on the first day of school.
The school district’s Administrative Assistant, Tina Vorlicek, coordinated with the staff to tabulate the assorted quantities and sizes needed.  We provided her with samples of different T-shirt sizes so staff members could try them on for individual size preferences.

We smile each time we see someone wearing the t-shirts and know we were a small part of helping deliver a unified appearance for the first day of the new 2010-2011 school year.

Adding and Subtracting.

Dan the Graphics man here. Our recent group picture was taken minus one of our staff members. With creative photography and photoshop layering effects I was able to add our missing staff member to our group photo for future use on this website and for our own personal use. I find adding and subtracting elements to be both challenging and enjoyable as 99% of the time others who look at the photos cannot tell who was added or if anything was subtracted. Another reason to love my job! What can I add or subtract for you today?

people who touch our lives

Below  is a blog post by Paul Wilson Jr., author of the book Dream B.I.G. 

I have chosen to interject my thoughts into this post about a person who has left indelible fingerprints on my life and the rest of the moxie media staff.  Susan Sanders has been an account manager for moxie media  for the last year and a half.  She has nurtured relationships with customers and her peers and touched our lives in so many positive ways.  She and her husband Rob are following the path that has been set before them and will be moving to St. Paul. Today is her last day in the office.  She has moved accounts over to a very capable person, LuAnn Drazkowski who recently joined our staff.  I wanted to write something about her and share my thoughts with you about what she has left behind for moxie and brings forward to her new adventure.  Perhaps our paths will cross again and she will be working for moxie – in St. Paul.  So read on…..

Fingerprints are a nearly invisible impression that says, “I was here.” The person is gone (but not too far – St. Paul is only and hour away), but they have left traces of themselves behind.

Figuratively speaking, fingerprints also symbolize your legacy – evidence that represents what you did and the impact you had while you were at someplace. This could include a company - moxie media, relationship - moxie staff, church - faith lutheran, community - hutchinson, or life in general.

So Susan, where have you left your fingerprints? What evidence did you leave behind to show that you were guilty of doing something great?
LOTS, fingerprints of compassion, fun, hard work, timeliness, detail oriented, creativity, professionalism, faith, passion, family.

Can a case be built to show that her life positively impacted others? ABSOLUTELY!

As you think about her “legacy-in-process”, here are some questions to ask about the evidence of Susan’s  impact:

Will moxie media be better after Susan leaves than before she arrived?  
Yes, besides the fact that she added 30+ accounts to the moxie account list, she has become a good friend to all of us.

Will  Susan leave her current relationships better than when she arrived? 
Yes, Susan has nurtured  customers relationships by listening and interpreting their needs to the moxie staff enabling them to do their job better and help provide marketing solutions for her customers.

 How is she developing the people around her now to carry forth her vision? 
Meticulously, Susan went through every customer file and explained to LuAnn who they were as people and as customers. She showed LuAnn the jobs she had done for them in the past and what the possibilites for the future held for each one.  Then she took LuAnn to meet them in person. She wanted to make sure they were well taken care of.

Whom has she led in the past that is now leading well? 
I am positive as Susan’s successor, that LuAnn has the knowledge base about her customers to continue the excellent job Susan has done her customers.

How has she equipped the people around her for their future success? 
Susan has been able to connect with people and see their talents and direct them in ways that they can most benefit from those talents.  While doing so, she has provided moxie customers with the expertise and talent needed to accomplish their marketing goals.

What is she building that people will be benefitting from 10 or 20 years from now? 
Susan will continue to look beyond …look outside the box, and provide creative and practical ideas to use in everyday life and in her business aspirations.  It’s all about relationships.

Everyday is an opportunity to build evidence that your life matters because of your positive influence and impact.  Don’t miss your opportunity to be found guilty of doing something great in someone else’s life!  
Susan – you are guilty as charged! You have learned more and shared so much in the last year and half that we will be forever touched by your compassion for people and outstanding work ethic.  This is your next step in walking the path laid before you, and it will have many twists and turns, ups and downs, and even some nice times to just coast. I hope that moxie has left some indelible finger prints in your life that will help you navigate your path. And perhaps that path will lead back here.

Ellen Dickie, Moxie Media, Vice President

introducing printing discounts

Each week we will be offering discounts for printing projects you may have.  These discounts apply to the printing portion of the project. Any design or artwork charges will be additional.

Create your own business cards, flyers, brochures, banners and more. Convert to high resolution pdf for printing and email to us. We will check your file to make sure it will process correctly for printing and then off it goes into production.  If you need help in designing or coming up with an idea, just let us know and we can walk you through the process.

artwork acronyms worth your time

Alphabet soup is what you might think once you begin discussing artwork creation and transfer with clients and decorators. Here’s a handy cheat sheet to help clarify the jumble.

• DPI (dots per inch) is the unit of measurement for resolution, communicating the density of dots in a print image or on a computer screen. It is helpful to remember that as the dpi doubles, the number of dots within a square inch quadruples. Therefore an image that’s 300 dpi will have 90,000 dots per square inch. Remember, the higher the dpi, the better the resolution of your image.
• CMYK color: This is the color method based upon pigments. “CMYK” stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Using these four colors, most other colors can be achieved.
• PMS (Pantone Matching System): This is a printing color method based on a list of specially mixed colors by Pantone Corp. These colors are considered to be “pure” and “true” based on their exacting specifications.
• BMP (bitmap) is a map of dots or pixels, which typically comes in file formats such as .gif, .tif, .jpg or .bmp. Each dot can specify a color. The larger the resolution the better, but these files generally aren’t the best choice for imprint artwork.
• GIF (graphics interchange format) is often the format used for the photos you see on the Internet, because the files are small and download quickly.
• JPG or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a standard compression format for high-resolution color images. They too are created by pixels. The higher the dpi, the better the image of the jpeg.
• TIFF (tagged image file format) is a file format for exchanging bitmapped images.
• EPS (encapsulated postscript) is a type of graphics file written in postscript language.
• PDF (Adobe portable document format) offers an easy way to share files and to illustrate what you want your artwork to look like. However, these files aren’t always the best from which to have your garment imprinted.

 If you need assistance in decipher the “graphic file” language, we would be glad to interpret.  Pop us an email or we can stop by and help you.

the joe show – check it out

This is our first post of a special tv show showing promotional products and trends in the industry. 
Enjoy! Call or email and let us know if you find something you like.

coloring contest entries

Here are the rest of the coloring contest entries. Thanks to all who participated in the event!

Winners of the Moxie Media Coloring Contest

“Erin Nowak, Isabella Schmitz, Isabelle Gasser and Katelyn Vanmarel are all winners in the Moxie Media “Connect the Dots” Coloring Contest.  Moxie Media held the contest at the 1st annual “Bring it Home” Family Fun and Business Expo on May 8th.  Because Moxie Media’s vision is “Creative fusion of design & media”, they decided to seek out the creativity in Hutchinson.  Moxie Media is so thankful to the Chamber of Commerce and the “Bring it Home” committee for planning such a great event.  The event was a great place for networking with local businesses and residents.  You might be looking at Moxie Media’s next graphic designer.”

Here are the winners entries.

« Previous Page — Next Page »