Innovation & Creativity Archives - Page 4 of 18

Must have business apps for your iPad

December 28, 2010

I suspect that many of you received iPads as holiday gifts this December. Now, you’re trying to justify to family and friends exactly why you need this absolutely awesome toy.

I have the solution for you. Here’s how you turn your iPad into the business tool you won’t be able to live without. Here are the apps worthy of your home screen.

As a mac laptop, iPhone carrying, iPad user — I give extra props to apps that synch between all of my devices in an effort to keep me organized.
I have not tried all the apps that exist. These are the ones that work for me. No doubt, your mileage will vary,
I’m not a tech support guy, so if I use the wrong terminology or can’t tell you how to get your iPad to do something — I’m sorry.
Most of these apps cost a few bucks.
Yup, lots of other incredible apps but I focused just on what’s on my home screen. In other words — work tools. I have 6 other screens of games, books, puzzles, movies etc.
This is the longest blog post I have ever written. Sorry about that.

With those disclaimers firmly in place — let’s dig in.

The dock is the little shelf at the bottom of your home screen. As you scroll through your screens, the dock stay in place. So this is the place for the apps you are constantly using. The iPad comes with Safari, Mail, Photos and iPod as the defaults on your dock. You can switch out the apps on the dock…and you can have up to 6 apps there.

So, on my dock:

Settings: (allows me to control all settings on the iPad) Comes pre-loaded.

App Store: (search, find and download apps) Comes pre-loaded

Safari: (web browser — you can synch your bookmarks on all devices through iTunes) (instructions) Comes pre-loaded.

Mail: (synchs with Mail app on my phone and laptop as well) Comes pre-loaded.

Things: (Task Management/To Do list) This is an incredible app. It synchs my To Do list on all devices AND iCal. Now this one was pricey at $50 but I don’t regret spending the money. I am not going to describe everything it does (check out their website) but it keeps me on task, on time and looking a bit less forgetful.

Reeder: – my feed reader. It synchs with Google Reader and lets me browse by feed, folders, starred items etc. It also sends posts to Instapaper, can instantly post to my Twitter or Facebook accounts. It was $4.99 (Reeder website)

Now, onto my home screen:

Dropbox: This is my universal file cabinet. (visit website) I can access any file in my Dropbox account (or upload a new file) from my iPad, iPhone or laptop. I can share files with other people (by invitation only) while keeping all the other files private. I literally upload my entire WORK folder from my laptop when I travel, so the laptop can stay at the office! (Free)

Simplenote: This is a virtual notebook — but keeps every note organized and tracks revisions to every note. (visit website) I use it to take notes in meetings, I keep my “Pack List” so I never forget anything while packing and it synchs between all devices. I can also e-mail any note to anyone in my contact list. Notes can be tagged and categorized as well. (Free)

Evernote: This is my brain’s junk drawer. It synchs on all devices. Anything I might want to collect/save (photos, text, audio files, audio notes that I can record on the fly, typed notes, screen captures etc.) It’s where I keep half-baked ideas, blog post thoughts, research tidbits etc. I love the audio feature. I can clip something on a website and then leave myself an audio note of why I am keeping it. I splurged for the premium ($45/annual) for the larger file upload size but I am guessing I could have gotten by with the free version. (check out their website)

FlightTrack: As the name suggests, this allows me to keep tabs on my (or family members) flights. It tells me what gate I need to go to, if we’re scheduled to leave on time, the on time percentage of my flight, trip time, gives me seat maps and terminal maps. If I am on a flight and wondering what gate we’re going to pull up to — or what gate I need to get to — it’s all right there. I went with the Pro version ($10) because it synchs with TripIt automatically, (FlightTrack website)

Log Me In: This allows me to access my laptop (or my Mom’s computer) no matter where I am. I can take remote control of the computer, transfer files between computers, print remote files to my printers at home or work, etc. I really got this to be my Mom’s tech support but it serves my purposes for work as well. They have plenty of free options and a wide range of paid options as well. (Review options here)

Keynote: Vastly superior to PowerPoint, this is the Mac’s presentation software. It allows you (with an adapter) to use your iPad and a projector to give presentations without laptop or other device. You can also create presentations on the fly. You can also save any Keynote presentation as a PPT if you want to. Drop and drag graphics, re-size elements with the squeeze of your fingertips — creating a presentation is actually fun! You can e-mail presentations from the app, print etc. (Read more and watch a video) ($10)

Pages: This is a beautiful word processing app. You can do much more than create plain documents though. With the tap of a finger, you can add images, charts, resize fonts, change fonts, etc. (Read more and see some samples) My only frustration had been that I couldn’t link Pages (or Keynote) directly to Dropbox but now I can. (read how you can too!) ($10)

Note: If you’re a PC user — I’d highly recommend Office-2 HD fro 7.99. It allows you to create, open and edit MS Word and Excel and save directly to Dropbox.

Flipboard: This is a very cool app. It basically takes all your Google reader folders, your Twitter feed, Facebook news updates, magazine subscriptions, TedTalks videos, blog feeds, etc and presents them to you in a magazine format. This is a fantastic curator if you want to browse through all that matters to you, from an info POV. (check out their website) (Free)

HootSuite: This app allows me to update Twitter, Facebook and FourSquare on the fly. I can also schedule updates for minutes, hours or days in advance. it also synchs on all devices! (Hootsuite website) (Free)

Instapaper: This allows me to grab any page/s on the Internet and save them to read later. If there are links in the story — I can tap on them and connect to them via my browser or save it as a new document in Instapaper. This too synchs my devices and on the web. (Check it out) (Free)

GoodReader: The best app for reading PDFs on iPad, this tool also handles MS Office files as well as many audio and visual files. (Read more) ($3)

Print Central: One problem with the iPad is that once you have photos or documents stored on it, you can’t print anything unless you transfer the file to your main computer. Print Central lets you either plug in (with charging cord) to your computer and print directly from the iPad or hook up with any wifi printer without cords. (Check out the site) ($10)

BoxCar: This app pulls all your notifications (Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, and many others) and aggregates them all in one place. You won’t ever miss another direct message, notification or new e-mail. This is a huge time and embarrassment saver! (Read more about it) (Free)

iThoughtsHD: If you like to brainstorm or think in mindmaps, this is the app for you. It’s easy to use, integrates with Dropbox and gives you many options in terms of how you like to design and organize your maps. (Watch the video) ($10)

Time Master + Billing: In the agency world, we need to keep track of how we spend our time. This app lets me do that, no matter where I am. And it synchs with my iPhone, so I can keep records on both and they work together. This has lots of features I don’t use (like billing) but would make it even more valuable for a solo consultant or entrepreneur. (More info) ($10)

Calendars – Google Calendar Client: I’ve got calendars on Google Apps, iCal, my iPhone and my iPad. I need a program that synchs with them all, has alarms that work on all of them and let’s me view my entire team’s calendars individually. Yikes. That’s why this calendar app does the trick for me. It has a drag and drop events features, set repeating tasks, and invite people to events. This is a life critical app for me. (Read more about the app) ($7)

Netflix: It’s a very cool thing to have movies and TV shows on demand. The quality is excellent and you can either rely on iPad’s built in speakers or plug one in. Either way — it’s excellent in a hotel room, an office or airport. (You need a netflix account) (Free)

Square: Accept credit cards without having a merchant’s account or paying ridiculously high service charges. The account is free and they’ll even send you the credit card reader (plugs into the headphones jack) or you can key in the credit card number. Square even generates an instant receipt for you and the client. (see if Square is for you) (Free except for service fees)

Air Sharing: This app turns your iPad into a hard drive that allows you to connect with your computer, swap files, print, and much more. Think of it as a huge flash drive, thanks to Air Sharing. (Check it out) ($3)

At Bat (MLB 2010): Okay, you can’t work all the time. During pre-season, regular season and post-season, this app let me watch any major league baseball game being played — live. The app itself is free and gives you plenty of great baseball stats, updates, scores etc. The “watch any game” is an annual subscription. (Read more)

There you have it…now you can justify that iPad to anyone — it’s a business tool like no other!

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What over 1.5 million people chose to watch

December 23, 2010

It's the holidays and everyone is not only crazy busy but bombarded by ads. So we tune them out.

But as of 12/23 — 1.5 million people booted up their browser and went looking for this video. (email subscribers, click here) They didn't get tricked into watching it — they sought it out. And they not only watched it for almost 5 minutes — they shared it with their friends. Who also watched it.

Welcome to the future of advertising…

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Could being remarkable really be this simple?

December 23, 2010

As you may know, I am a Disneyophile. I love the Disney parks, I love the Disney movies' happy endings, I love the unrelenting pursuit of better customer service that drives Disney to their own level of excellence.

I also love Walt Disney's story.

I know he wasn't perfect by a long shot. But he was a dreamer, a story teller and a man who believed so strongly in his own vision that he ignited the people around him until they were as caught up in the dream as he was. And despite being told no about a million times — he just keep at it until his dream came to be.

But if you've studied his life like I have, you discover that his philosophies are incredibly simple. And in that simplicity, incredibly profound.

When asked how to build a successful business, he replied:

"Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends."

Pretty much sums up referral selling, word of mouth marketing, and customer retention all in one sentence. And in the end — isn't Walt talking about creating a love affair with your customers?

Do you think we make it too complicated? Do you think Walt was right? Is that really all there is to it?

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Pantone announces the 2011 color of the year

December 14, 2010

This is the sort of job I wonder about sometimes. How does one become the person who selects the color of the year? Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute® must know — as her organization has declared Honeysuckle the 2011 color of the year.

Here's what Pantone had to say about the selection:

A Color for All Seasons. Courageous. Confident. Vital.

A brave new color, for a brave new world.

Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it. While the 2010 color of the year, PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise, served as an escape for many, Honeysuckle emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor.

A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.

“In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Honeysuckle derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum.”Eiseman continues, “The intensity of this festive reddish pink allures and engages. In fact, this color, not the sweet fragrance of the flower blossoms for which it was named, is what attracts hummingbirds to nectar. Honeysuckle may also bring a wave of nostalgia for its associated delicious scent reminiscent of the carefree days of spring and summer.”

Honeysuckle is guaranteed to produce a healthy glow when worn by both men and women. It’s a striking, eye-catching hue that works well for day and night in women’s apparel, accessories and cosmetics, and in men’s ties, shirts and sportswear.

Add a lively flair to interior spaces with Honeysuckle patterned pillows, bedspreads, small appliances and tabletop accessories.

Looking for an inexpensive way to perk up your home? Paint a wall in Honeysuckle for a dynamic burst of energy in the family room, kitchen or hallway.

Hmm. Apparently I am more of a 2010 kind of guy. I'll go with the turquoise, thank you. Pretty sure you will not see any honeysuckle shirts hanging in my closet. But…and here's the actual marketing point: it doesn't matter if I don't like it.

All too often, marketers allow their personal opinions color (pun intended) how they create marketing tools for clients. All of us need to be very wary of allowing these sorts of decisions to be subjective. There should be a reason why you choose a particular font, color, headline or visual.

And the reason should not be "because I like it."

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Marketing tip #93 When you should zip…zag

December 6, 2010

We are creatures of habit. Even as marketing professionals who are supposed to be creative, innovative and "out of the box" thinkers. There are some SOP (standard operating procedures) that are tied to most aspects of marketing.

You'll recognize some of these… (By the way…not saying I agree with these)

B to B advertisers should choose talk radio over top 40 stations
Non profits should sent out an appeal letter between Thanksgiving and December 5th
You have to drive traffic back to your own website
You should focus on the value proposition in your marketing

But, we're not the only ones who know these golden oldies. Our audiences do to. And so do our competitors. Which often makes it a snore.

Sometimes if you can find the courage (and sell it internally) — taking a different direction and zagging when you should zig gives your effort a freshness and element of surprise that can be very influential and action inspiring.

Take this video by American Express. They're trying to get consumers to join their cause marketing effort called Take Part. The campaign is encouraging people to donate their time and/or dollars to charities. They can also vote to decide which charities win financial support from Amex.

Now…conventional wisdom would be to do a campaign that touched the hearts of the audience. Inspire them to action. Nothing wrong with that approach but a bit expected. Which is why I love what they did instead. Take a look. (email subscribers, click here to view the video)

By using a very trendy celebrity who plays a character we really don't want to be anything like (but find funny), AMEX was able to make their point in a very fresh way. It's the polar opposite of the PSA featuring the Indian who is so dismayed by litter than he sheds a tear (from the 70s).

We expect the tear. We don't expect Sue.

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Marketing tip #43: Differentiate your product with a memory

September 25, 2010

I'm on the road a lot so I've become a very efficient packer/traveler. My dopp bag is always pre-packed with everything I need. Including one of those little travel sized toothpaste tubes.

I care that it's toothpaste but I don't really care what kind or what flavor. So every time I'm at Target, I just grab a few as I walk by their "travel sized section" and toss them in the closet for the next rounds of travel.

On a recent run into Chicago, I just grabbed the new toothpaste tube and started brushing. With the first swipe of my toothbrush – all of a sudden I was transported to my dentist's chair. The toothpaste had that gritty sand sensation that up until this point I only experienced at the dentist's office. I would have sworn that Dr. Todd's dental hygienist was giving my teeth a good buffing.

I don't normally pay any attention to the taste or texture of my toothpaste — but this time — it completely captured my attention. Simply because it triggered a vivid experience/memory.

We are so visually oriented today that sometimes I think we forget that we actually have five senses. And that the two that are tied most deeply to our memories and emotional triggers are smell and taste.

Here's what happened in my brain as I brushed my teeth with the gritty toothpaste:

I found myself wondering if this toothpaste was better for my teeth because it felt more "official." Even after i was done brushing, i was conscious of that gritty feeling in my mouth.

Now, I have no ability to judge toothpaste effectiveness. I told you – I am brand agnostic when it comes to my toothpaste. But the texture and the experiential connection I made to the gritty toothpaste suddenly gave me a tangible I could grasp and attach a value to.

Why am i telling you this fascinating tooth tale? Because in a very commoditized product category, Crest found a way to not only differentiate themselves but to also create the perception of being better.

If they can do that with something as mundane as toothpaste — surely you can do it with your product or service. What sense or experience could you tap into to create a different perception for your customers or prospects?

~ Drew

P.S. Which brand of toothpaste do you suppose I bought the next time I needed some for home?

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Sometimes, your baby is just ugly

March 24, 2010

Thick skin.

We had a lively discussion on that very topic at work this week.

As marketing professionals, it's our job to come up with compelling ideas (writing, design, etc. etc.) that will trigger actions and reactions from the intended audiences.

To discover those ideas requires a great deal of collaborative thinking and working together to sift through, push, pull and generally heat test each of them to see if they can stand up. That can be brutal if you've made the fatal flaw of falling in love with your own idea.

Brainstorming has this "warm and fuzzy" image. Who wouldn't like to just sit around and think up ideas? It sounds so wistful and charming.

But in the pragmatic world of marketing, you don't really have time to putter around in the ideation stage for too long. You need to shift back and forth — generating ideas, evaluating ideas, building off each other's ideas and twisting and turning someone's ugly baby into something interesting and curious.

Sometimes to get to the truly genius idea — you have to pop the head off of someone's ugly baby. There it is… the cruel truth about brainstorming.

You might be the poor shlub who has to watch his idea get trampled in the quest for the really, really remarkable solution.

I don't know about you, but when I'm trying to be creative — I have to go through a lot of horrific, trite, pun-like ideas before I get to the good ones. And usually in the early stages, I sometimes come up with an idea or two that I think is just about as smart as anything could possibly be.

Until someone starts knocking holes into it. When I was young (both in age and professional maturity) I'd get upset and defensive. It hurt. After all… that was MY idea and it was THE answer. I clung to it, fighting off the enemy who wanted to attack my baby. I was sure it was THE answer.

Of course… it wasn't THE answer. And by putting it through its paces and criticizing it out loud, my co-workers were able to riff off my mediocre idea to get to something fresh and new.

My ideas — the good ones, bad ones, off the wall ones — even the ugliest babies in the bunch are a part of the process. And my job isn't to create "art" and defend it to the death. Our clients can't afford for me to fall in love with the ugly babies just because they're mine.

How about you — do you make it okay for other people to tell you that your baby is ugly?

Photo thanks to MetsBallers

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We have a Colfax Mainstreet logo winner!

February 12, 2010

Wow…the process of getting the community of Colfax a new logo has been a winding road! In a nutshell, here's what happened:

If you want to follow the saga, here are the links.

We now have a winner!! (check out all 23 logos here) The Colfax Mainstreet team selected #13 (see above) designed by Heather Haaland. #11 was their close 2nd choice.

Many, many thanks to all 6 designers:

Heather Haaland (design 13)
Jim Hill (designs 1,3,5 and 6)
Alvin McCoy (18-23)
Cyndi Wiley ( designs 7-9)
Dan Lester (designs 2 and 4)
Robin Blake (designs 10-12)

But the work is not done. Now Heather and the Colfax Mainstreet team need to work through decisions like color and usage in things like letterhead, business cards etc. So stay tuned. We'll share their results in the near future!

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My language is just grating!

January 15, 2010

I've noticed something that's been quite prevalent in my writing of late. The word "great." Apparently I think just about everything is great.

Lazy is what that's all about.

Lazy writing is boring writing. It's not juicy. My words aren't caressing a darn thing. Lazy is not memorable, quotable or even mildly noteworthy. No matter what the subject — word choice matters.

So….

First, I apologize that I've been serving up lazy word choices. You deserve better.

Second, 2010 is going to be the year of juicy language. Now I am not going over the deep end. Every sentence is not going to be jam packed with gooey adjectives just because I know how to mine a thesaurus. But, I am going to be much more attentive to making conscious word choices.

And third…on the hunch that your writing might have a dash of lazy in it as well, here's a writing exercise for all of us. Come on…it's time to do a bit of stretching.

Flip through a magazine and find a photo that catches your eye. Once you've selected your photo, simply look at it and do the following three exercises.

The warm up: List 25 adjectives that describe the photo. Don't censor or judge. The obvious ones will pour out first but notice how you have to push to get to 25. Is the 24th one better than the 2nd one?

The workout: Create a business analogy from the photo. What might it say about anything from your industry to leadership to social media? The point is to see beyond the obvious and see a hidden meaning inside the image you selected.

The cool down: What is the perfect word that captures either the meaning or the mood of the photo. A single word. No cheating.

Whether you are a copywriter day in and day out, a business owner who crafts an occasional flier or an exec who writes 10 e-mails and memos a day…your audience deserves your best words. Get out there and and be great! (Just kidding….)

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com

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Insights into logo design

December 14, 2009

My goal was simple….write a series of blog posts talking about the art and science of logo design and selection.

We got the company LogoInn to donate logo design time. We ran a contest and the city of Colfax became the lucky recipient of the free logo design…and it went haywire from there!

Which honestly, is a great example of how logo design works. It isn't always neat and pretty. Sometimes, it is painful. And you need to choose a partner who knows the ropes and will stick with you.

If you want to follow the saga, here are the links.

That last post was where things spiraled out of control. The city of Colfax (and most of my commenting readers) weren't crazy about any of the logos. So I sent all the critiques back to the logo company and then heard nothing. I've attempted to e-mail my contact there for several months — but nothing. (Update…I got an e-mail from them today!)

But I promised the city of Colfax a new logo and dang it, they're going to get one!

So….we decided to run another contest…but this time for designers. Anyone who wanted to enter a logo could. The winning logo designer would get s $250 VISA gift card.

Today….I am delighted to tell you we have 23 new logos to examine, discuss and hopefully…decide upon. 7 designers submitted logos. I am purposefully not identifying the designers at this time…but I will once the winner has been selected.

When viewing and trying to select a new logo for your company/brand, remember these rules:

Always view the logos in black and white first.
Always view the logos in a relatively small size. If it doesn't work small — it doesn't work.
Always view all logos in relatively the same size, so you are comparing apples to apples.
Remember — this is a subjective decision. Be careful that "committee think" doesn't paralyze you.

To view all 23 logos on the web — click here.

To download a PDF (larger images) of all 23 logos — click here.

Then, come on back here…and let's talk about the designs, the process and how you go about accessing a good logo. (Please remember…be respectful of the designers who did these — anyone trash talking will be immediately booted.)

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