Monthly Archives: August 2011

What's in a logo? Actually, quite a bit!

Posted on by

Logos are amazing things. They are just a few simple shapes and colors, and yet they have an amazing power to convey feeling and emotion. Alone, yellow M’s typically do not create a hunger for hamburgers and fries, nor do green mermaids fill your nose with the smell of freshly ground coffee. But we associate these reactions with logos, which are why they are so important to design well and protect.

But what goes into a truly great logo? Below are our five choices for the best logos for current products, and there are definite similarities that can be drawn between them.

1. Nike


One of the most consistent recommendations when designing a logo is to keep it simple, and Nike does just that. A checkmark, two primary colors, and (sometimes) their slogan. And that, really, is it. Carolyn Davidson, the artist behind the swoosh, only charged $2 an hour for her work, and her final bill was a paltry $35. Phil Knight, one of the founders of Nike, was not immediately wowed by it, but accepted it and began its use. To his surprise, it became on of the most well-recognized logos in the world. (He also did end up giving her a bit more than the original $35 when his company took off.)

Besides its simplicity, the logo fits the brand. It is an athletic shoe, and is based on convincing its consumers that it can help with overall sporting prowess more than any of its competitors. The Swoosh is quick, streamlined, and fits the natural contours of a show. While this may seem a little silly, imagine if they put a square on the sides of their shoes instead; the shape adds a lot to the perceived qualities of the show.

2. McDonalds


The arches started as an actual structural design of early McDonalds stores, but became so tied to the McDonalds brand that they have remained an ever-present part of their logo. When the older buildings were viewed at a particular angle, the arches intersected to create an M. Interestingly, when they were updating their look in the 60′s, the golden M we all know so well started as a stylized V but was turned into an M by McDonald’s head of engineering as a nod to the original design and the company’s name.

Simplicity, again, rears its head but goes hand in hand with basic nostalgia. Those beautiful arches ordained every happy meal of our childhood, and seeing them tends to bring up old memories of french fries, hamburgers and little plastic toys. There is nothing implicitly delicious about an M, but it is the memories we associate with it that continue to make this logo so famous. Combine that with the color yellow, a color that can evoke feeling of hunger, and you have one great logo.

Continue reading →

Share!!!

MyCorp Gives to Joplin

Posted on by

For the entire month of August, we’re giving aid to Joplin, Missouri after the recent devastation of tornadoes throughout the area that occurred on May 22nd. 8,000 homes and small businesses were destroyed and damaged in the aftermath of the natural disaster. Even more tragic was the loss of life that occurred with 160 people killed. Joplin is still picking up the pieces with aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but still needs the help of donors and charities to assist them in mending and beginning life once more.

Despite the fact that we do not see Joplin updates on the news with the frequency that they had a few months ago doesn’t mean that everything has already been squared away and taken care of. Natural disasters leave behind long term and long reaching effects on all involved and even on the lives of those who were not there. Families in other states are stricken with grief and worry at the thought of those they love being affected, young start-up entrepreneurs who invested everything into their new business are sadden by the pile of rubble that did not yet get a chance to be, unemployed workers trying to figure out how to begin again- all under the hot and humid August sun.

MyCorporation is donating $500 to the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation to aid Joplin. In addition to our donation, we’re also reaching out on Facebook for assistance- like our Facebook fan page and we’ll donate a dollar to the collection that we have created for each like. Throughout the month of August, we’ll also include news on the latest recovery efforts in Joplin and on how far our own collection has grown.

Many hands make light work and it takes people from all walks of life to make a difference in the lives of others. Join us in helping Joplin this summer- every dollar counts.

Share!!!

Awesome Affiliates: Meltwater

Posted on by

Beginning with $15,000 and a shack of an office, this week’s affiliate grew to be one of the biggest online media monitoring firms in the world. Sounds pretty awesome to me. Meltwater is a software as a service (SaaS) company that aids businesses in amping up their online presence. Being the experts they are, we invite them to share a few tips on online advertising:

5 Tips for AdWords Advertisers

Often times, running a competitive AdWords campaign as a small business with a limited budget may feel like playing against a stacked deck. It’s important to remember that one of the primary reasons the pay-per-click model has been so successful is that it rewards advertisers who run relevant ads, not just those who spend the most money. It is still possible to achieve a high ROI on your campaigns as a smaller advertiser. These 5 tips can help you get there:

1. Define Your Goals: You probably don’t have the budget to use paid search as a way to build product awareness, generate leads, and brand yourself. Try to focus on the most important element. This should inform what landing pages you take searchers to, what message you’re conveying in ad copy, and how much of your budget is dedicated to the display network. Clearly define what your company is trying to achieve from paid search.

2. Distinguish Your Target Audience: When thinking about keyword selection, consider what the people most likely to purchase your product would search for. Be as targeted and specific as possible. The people searching these specific terms are the people most likely to convert and eventually buy your product or services. You might provide online backup, but if you know that you do especially well for people looking for “online backup for linux files,” make sure you’re bidding on those keywords and exhausting those available impressions before spending money on more general and generic terms.

3. What Sets You Apart: Your ad copy needs to demonstrate your unique selling proposition. You have a 35 character elevator pitch in a line of ad copy, and you need to make the most of it. What makes you different from the other 10 ads on the page? Is it the quality of your product? Free shipping? Pricing? Your client base? The awards you’ve won? Make sure you’re emphasizing these specific selling points in your ads. If you’re just repeating what your company does and instructing someone to “Get a Free Trial,” you’re not cherishing those characters enough.

4. Where Do You Want to Spend Your Money: If you’re an advertiser with a limited budget, it’s not good enough to ask yourself if a given keyword is relevant or not, or whether a managed placement on the display network is targeted or not. You need to ask yourself if there’s a keyword that’s more targeted, if there’s a placement that’s more relevant. If you could control where every one of your daily clicks came from, what would that look like? Are you funneling traffic so that’s a possibility? Each dollar you spend is a dollar that might be more effectively spent with better targeting.

5. Test, Test, Test: This is an oft-repeated recommendation of paid search, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Make sure you’re acting on the data from your testing. It’s not enough to split test two pieces of ad copy. You need to take action and then turn off underperforming elements. That way you can maximize the impression share of better performing elements and get more bang for your buck. Continuous improvement through testing and refinement is the cornerstone of a well-managed PPC account.

Interested in becoming an affiliate with MyCorporation or finding out more about Meltwater? Contact Cindi Sokoloff, Affiliate Manager at MyCorporation at (818) 746-2264 ext 320.

Share!!!

Four Traits No Entrepreneur Should Ever Have. EVER!

Posted on by

Drew Hansen, who is the Director of Editorial Business Operations at Forbes, recently wrote an interesting article on how both artists and entrepreneurs make themselves vulnerable by presenting an extension of themselves in their work that is new or challenging. The best entrepreneurs are those who can identify the next great thing and have the inner strength to continue pushing for a solid result, despite the typical lack of easy, all-encompassing acceptance.

He knows what's up.

Honestly, we just fell in love with this picture and had to use it, but I do tie it in later on. Spider-Man would probably be an awesome entrepreneur.

This is all well and good, but the article got me thinking about what makes a bad entrepreneur. The type of boss who throws out buzz words at every opportunity, wanting to web 2.0 the streamlined memory cloud. Who refuses to accept even the tiniest change to their plan when the advice comes from an employee, but is completely happy throwing out months of work to incorporate a vague idea that came to them in a dream. The boss who will spend all day looking at cat videos, but expects you to only take two previously specified, five-minute bathroom breaks.

After asking around the office and reading a few horror stories online, here are four ways to be a terrible, awful, horrible entrepreneur. For the sake of your employees and investors, please try to avoid them.

1. Be Egotistical
This company is your baby; you thought it up, raised it, and are now trying to send it on its way to change the world… and maybe bring back a heaping sackful of cash. The egomania of entrepreneurs is well known, and typically understood. When it comes down to the list o’ traits that entrepreneurs carry, pride does not count as a deadly sin. You need a certain level of pride to even stick it out and create the company. If you are not confident in your product, then you can bet your investors won’t be either.

HOWEVER, there is a difference between being proud and being egomaniacal. Look around your office; do you have a giant painting of yourself wrestling a bull? If so, you may have overstepped your bounds.

In all seriousness, no one likes an egomaniac. If you have a tendency to brag, try to catch yourself before you list off your accomplishments to the college graduate you are thinking about hiring. There is a time and a place to break out the credentials, so be sure to try and ground yourself before going too far off left-field. And that is good advice in general; even if you don’t spend your lunches walking between cubicles, showing people photos of your kids, house and framed MBA diploma, we can all benefit from stepping back and trying to move the conversation away from ourselves. No one wants to be seen as an egomaniac, but I’m sure you can think of a time when you were talking to someone and the subject of the conversation never really left them. Maybe, just maybe, someone has experienced the same thing when talking to you.

2. Embrace Your Stubbornness
This one goes hand in hand with the problem of egomania, but deserves its own mention in our top four list. Stubbornness is a serious issue in the world of business. As the entrepreneur, the one responsible for bringing everyone together in your office, you need to remember that you hired your employees to be more than impressive decoration for when investors swing by. They have their own experience, value and knowledge that can be benefited from. Of course, you’ll occasionally have that employee that is constantly nagging you about one thing or the other; the placement of marketing, the type of ad campaign you want to do, the proper way to perform R & D.

I’m not surprised that some CEOs and entrepreneurs just end up tuning out the drone, hoping it goes away. Well it probably won’t, so after you fix your hiring practices so you don’t get interns/employees like that, be sure to keep your ears open. You probably know your product best, but don’t put off an air of intimidation by smacking down idea after idea. After a while your employees will just clam up, and then you’ll be wondering why no one likes to brainstorm with you.

Keep your mind and ears open; you never know when a great idea just needs a little polishing.

Continue reading →

Share!!!