Tenengo Design announced a strategic affiliation with Jill Coon, Inc. Tenengo Design, Inc provides brand design, web development services, social media design, and organic search engine optimization. Jill Coon provides social media brand management and monitoring, virtual assisting, and IT services. The teaming agreement between the two companies will provide for Jill Coon, Inc to offer Tenengo Design’s branding and design services to its client base, while Tenengo Design offers Jill Coon’s social media, virtual assisting and IT services to its own client base.
“This is a perfect fit.” Says Jill Coon, founder and president of Jill Coon, Inc. “Our clients need that polished image and message when seeking to increase connections and customer loyalty on the Internet, and part of doing that is your brand. That’s where Tenengo Design comes in. Of course, there’s more to a polished image if you want to grow your brand; it’s all about interacting with people and offering them a reason to connect with you and personalizing that interaction in this world of impersonal connections. That’s where our social media services come into play.”

Both companies see this agreement as an opportunity to streamline operations in their working relationship, while being able to increase service offerings and the caliber of services for their own clients, while sharing cross-marketing opportunities.

About Tenengo Design – http://www.tenengo.com
Tenengo Design is a custom website design and graphic design company in West Palm Beach, Florida. Their mission is to provide customized and usable print and web-based solutions that maximize their client’s return on investment. Tenengo Design’s work is driven by high standards and strong business ethics. Their services include Custom Web Design, eCommerce, Web Site Development, Mobile Websites, Social Media Design, Search Engine Optimization, Brand Development, Custom Logo Design, Brochure Design and other Collateral Materials.  For more information, contact Tenengo Design, Inc at 305.304.4400 or info@tenengo.com
About Jill Coon, Inc – http://www.jillcooninc.com
Jill Coon, Inc is a Social Media and Marketing Company based in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Their services include online marketing and representation via social media  and brand management, virtual assisting services,  web design, IT consulting , and search engine optimization  and marketing. Our team strives for perfection and continually stays one step ahead. We are on the cutting edge giving you, our clients the best possibilities to enhance your bottom line. For more information, contact Jill Coon at 561.319.4743 or jill@jillcoon.com

The initial part of the project involved designing a unique logo that could be used to brand the business online and on printed marketing materials. The logo needed to represent the company as tech savvy, reliable and friendly while clearly communicating the Social Media aspect of the business. “Tenengo Design Developed a logo that was exactly what I was looking for,” said Jill Coon president and founder.

Tenengo Design also created the new site. Each aspect of the design was taken into consideration to make sure it aligned with the creative and marketing goals of the business. For instance, to brighten the website’s appearance, the background color was set to white bringing a cleaner look and feel to the site.  A special photo shoot was arranged to capture the right lighting and mood for the Jill’s pictures.  The colors, page layout and navigation make the pages easy to read and navigate. The information was also arranged in an easy to find format with emphasis on the key services Jill Coon offers, which focus on Social Media, Brand Management, Search Engine Optimization and Virtual Assisting in addition to Design and IT. As part of the new website, Tenengo Design incorporated a blog to give Jill Coon the flexibility to stay connected to readers, as well as, rotating snippets of success stories throughout the site to improve visitors’ trust.  The new site captures all that Jill Coon, Inc represents. To explore the new website, visit www.jillcooninc.com.

To complete the project, Tenengo Design updated Jill Coon’s brand throughout social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube by creating custom backgrounds and sidebar graphics. In addition, Tenengo Design also implemented Jill Coon’s SEO strategy to improve their Organic Search results ranking.

Edrian Thomidis is the owner of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. Contact Tenengo for more information.

The latest Social Media craze everyone is talking about is Google’s +1 feature. There’s a lot of buzz on the Internet about whether or not the +1 can improve rankings for SEO.

How Google’s +1 will affect rankings is unclear right now, but as Google confirmed in an email to Wired “Google will study the clicks on +1 buttons as a signal that influences the ranking and appearance of websites in search results. The purpose of any ranking signal is to improve overall search quality. For +1’s and other social ranking signals, as with any new ranking signal, we’ll be starting carefully and learning how those signals are related to quality.”

At first Google introduced the +1 button as a way for people to show that they liked certain content, but recently the +1 button’s abilities were upgraded to act like the ‘share’ button on Facebook. Now people can post stories to friends and followers on Google+. It is only a matter of time before all that data of what people are liking and sharing online is put to some good use to rearrange search results accordingly.

So make sure your Social Media Strategy includes the Google +1 if you don’t want your website traffic to have a potential negative impact. At least that’s the buzz for now!

Edrian Thomidis is the owner of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. Contact Tenengo for more information.

The Florida based company decided to trust Tenengo Design, Inc with their corporate website redesign. Tenengo Design is responsible for building a whole new look for Hartzell’s Painting Division and Construction Division under the umbrella of MyHartzell.com.

Hartzell has been in business for over 45 years in South Florida.  The construction company provides residential and commercial construction and renovation services and the painting division provides commercial and residential exterior painting and pressure cleaning services. They have been involved in countless projects throughout South Florida and have gained reputation for their prompt, high quality and reliable services.

The launch of the redesigned site makes it possible for prospective customers to gather information about the company and some of the projects it has been involved in. The project gallery, client list and testimonials provide proof of the company’s high quality and reliable services. The user-friendly site makes it convenient for the customer to contact their sales team.

Whether you are looking to remodel your kitchen, or your association is looking to find a reputable company to paint your building, Hartzell Construction and Hartzell Painting will treat you right. They are committed to providing you with a range of experience required to fully understand the scope of work from the smallest detail to the most detailed project and unsurpassed customer satisfaction.

Edrian Thomidis is the owner of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. Contact Tenengo for more information.

You’ve read the previous post about the many reasons why businesses should stay away from spec work when selecting a designer, but now you wonder exactly how to find the right designer for your project.
It’s simple. Look at their portfolios to get a good idea of the style and type of work they have done and if it fits your project. Ask for references of customer or past employers to give you a good idea of their work ethic. Meet with the designer and discuss your project. Once you get a feel for their work and personality, you will be able to choose the right designer for your assignment.
There are many links and resources that cover this topic in detail. I have chosen to write this article with the business/client in mind. However, if you are a designer or you simply want to find out more about NO!SPEC, visit their site.

Edrian Thomidis is the owner of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. Contact Tenengo for more information.

Why shouldn’t you have a contest or a bid with samples to get your logo or website done?

Designers are very well aware that speculative design work (spec work) is bad for the industry, but businesses tend to think this is a win-win for the client. However, this is only on the surface. There are many compelling reasons why businesses should stay away from spec work when selecting a designer. Here are some of those reasons:

The first phase of any successful project is information gathering, which includes market research. This phase can usually take several hours and it is where the client’s objectives and goals are confirmed. A thorough understanding of audience, tone, message, branding among many others are documented and discussed. By asking for spec work you are asking designers to jump right into the design without understanding the business problem or using the right strategy. If you are looking for the best designer, you look at their portfolio to have a good idea of past work experience and style.

Many times designers that consider working on Spec Work are new and inexperienced designers. They offer up Spec Work as a way to get in the door and get some experience. If you don’t mind having a designer learn on the job on what might be a very important marketing/design project, this might be a good fit. However, just remember that by following this practice you are promoting free labor and you hinder the designer’s ability to earn a proper salary.

You might find professional and established designers that may agree to create some spec work, but beware… those ‘free’ hours are not really ‘free’.  That free time has to be made up somewhere, which usually means you will pay more over the life of the project.

It’s as simple as “You get what you pay for”. In the world of web design it takes anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to come up with a decent design. You run a huge risk of winding up with poorly executed designs that don’t adequately represent your business and your message by having a number of designers that are usually under pressure to communicate an effective professional piece for free by spending about 2 hours on average. A professional will develop designs with strategy based on solid market research reflecting years of training and experience in the field.

When you are looking for a designer, designers are also evaluating you. Asking for spec work is a huge red flag for designers. It usually sends the message that the client isn’t putting a lot of thought or time into selecting a valuable designer. Professional and experienced designers also know that these projects take much longer and cause more headaches. As a result, the quotes might be higher.

I have recently noticed an increase in request for Spec Work, which prompted me to write this post.

What is Spec Work?
“Spec” is short for speculative work and it refers to any creative work done by a designer and submitted to a prospective client/employer in hopes to secure the work for a reasonable fee, but it is done without an agreement for payment. This usually requires the designer to work free of charge, and often with overinflated promise to secure the project, future employment or as it is often the case a hyped up prize such as “recognition” or “good for your portfolio”. In an effort to promote professional, ethical business practices within the industry I wanted to write a post that tells businesses why Spec Work is not a good idea and how it harms the industry.
The Typical Scenario…
As a small or medium business in this economy you understand the need to market your business, but you have a small budget. As you look for a solution, you find out that you can post your project on the Internet and hundreds of designers will bid on your project for a little more than a few pennies. Or you decide to support the local economy and perhaps another small business such as yours that might be struggling in this economy and decide to have local design studios bid on the project. You also request samples of the work to be created with the bid response so you can decide which one you like best. It sounds like a smart business decision and one that could maximize your budget, right? After all, all the design samples are unpaid and only the designer whose mock-up is chosen will get the project.

Next Post: Why is Spec Work Not Such a Great Idea For Business, Graphic Designers and Website Designers…

Edrian Thomidis is the President of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Graphic and Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. Contact Tenengo for more information.

Technology is still moving fast and websites as business tools will continue to be significant. In 2010 everyone realized that social networking was essential and in 2011 sharing content with social networks will become more important as people read and then share with their networks. More websites will look for integration of marketing activities such as emails, websites and social networks to ensure success. A traditional website will not be enough in 2011 as more users are accessing the web from their mobile devices. This will affect small business websites and e-commerce sites as well.

So what do you need to do, to keep up with the trends of 2011 if you are a small business and already have a website?

You need to do a website marketing health check. — This includes:

Image and Brand:

It is difficult for a small business to know all the latest marketing and design strategies and trends. Typically for a small business, having a website is a major accomplishment, but maintaining it is not always easy. That’s why your small business website probably hasn’t been updated in a few years.  What was the greatest rage, such as animated images, background music, blinking text, and glitter text in the 90’s or Flash websites in the early 2000’s is now considered out of date and unprofessional.

In the case of a website created in Flash, your site is invisible to most mobile devices and to search engines (there’s a trick to the search engines, but most small business websites don’t optimize their flash website for search engines). Even smart phones that support Flash don’t support it reliably. For 2011 there are newer technologies to add bells and whistles to a website like HTML5, Javascript, CSS3 and AJAX.

Statistics:

Looking at your website statistics to see how many visitors you had per month over 2010. This will give you an indication if your traffic improved or decreased throughout the year. What are your most visited pages? What are your top exit pages? What is the average length of a user’s visit? Although these data does not measure quality traffic or traffic that resulted in customers or sales, it does give you an indication of how your site is doing overall. If there are pages with low traffic or no traffic at all, 2011 may be the time to remove unwanted content and offer fresh new content for your users.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization:

If you did any SEO in 2010, maybe it is time to revisit those efforts, since search engines are constantly changing. If you have not yet optimized your site for search engines do not delay. Most users find websites by clicking on the top organic search results of major search engines such as Google, yahoo and Bing. Make sure for 2011 that your business can be found on the major search engines under specific keywords and local search.

Flexibility:

Is your website mobile friendly? How does your website look on an iPhone? Is the font bigger than it should be and is it pushing the layout around? Do the graphics display properly? If not, it may be worthwhile to consider offering a mobile version of your site.

Social Networking:

Can users share the content on your site on their social network easily? Do you have a Fan Page? Do you have a blog? Do you Tweet? Social Networking continues to grow at a rapid pace and businesses continue to take advantage of these marketing tools to promote and strengthen their brand. The trend last year was collection of ‘likes’, this year the trend is quality and interaction of those ‘likes’. If your business has stayed away from social networking, 2011 is the time to get social!

Relevant:

Go over your content on your website and make sure all addresses, phones, emails, hours, pricing are up to date. Check all the links to make sure they work. Are your services, promotions, and client’s testimonials still relevant? There’s nothing more discouraging for a user than finding out-dated information. Making sure your content is always relevant improves your user’s experience when visiting your site.

Partnership:

If you are looking for a new website or you want to redesign your old one it will be worthwhile to invest the time in developing a relationship with a professional established firm. It may seem valuable to go for the dirt-cheap or free option (or worse yet – do it yourself), but realize that the company you decide to work with will develop your brand and image to the outside world and will work closely with you to develop a strategy and a plan for creating and maintaining your site. How much is your company’s reputation worth and what does it mean to your business?

A well run website development company will work with you to design a website that is easy to navigate and is functional and relevant for the next few years. They should understand your business and your marketing goals and not just pick colors and graphics.

There are great web design ideas that a small business should consider for 2011. It is time to update your website (or create one if you don’t have one) and put your best image forward for 2011. As always, Tenengo Design can help you with your website, search engine optimization and social strategy implementation. We would love to partner with you to help your business big or small. We also offer a Small Business Website Design Package. Contact Us Today!

I was recently designing the business card for a small business and the question of ‘what is your title?’ generated a number of possible scenarios, and I wanted to write about it on this blog.

Most small business owners wear many hats and have the challenge of presenting their business as successful and established while doing so in a truthful and professional manner. The idea of using a title such as VP or a lesser title to give the appearance of being part of a larger organization would potentially put the owner in a compromising position when someone asks who is the CEO? which could hurt the business and owner’s credibility.

Something else to consider is what entity the business is, to make sure the right terminology is used. For example, the title of Owner should not be used for an LLC. The proper title is Managing Member/CEO/President. Some might recommend that a small business owner has the flexibility to be creative and use a title such as ‘El Jefe’, ‘Jack of all Trades’, ‘Head Honcho’ or something quirky. Yes, a small business owner can do anything, and might get many comments and attention, but it will be the wrong attention. The overall message… It’s unprofessional.

For legal purposes, it is necessary to show that you represent the company and not yourself as an individual, so the proper title is necessary. President, CEO, Managing Member, Managing Partner are all acceptable… especially for contracts, but stay away from the title of Owner.

Edrian Thomidis is the President of Tenengo Design, Inc and a professional Graphic and Website Designer in West Palm Beach, Florida. Contact Tenengo for more information.