4 Things to Consider When Creating a Business Logo

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

With all the noise on the web today, good branding is more important than ever.  Even if your business is not a cutting edge tech startup, the overall identity of your face on the web, social media, and your storefront should be unified, clean, and compelling.

There’s a lot about doing business on the web that is inexpensive and turn-key: All you need to fire up a basic website, blog, or social media presence is an e-mail address. But no web app can substitute for real design vision, and your logo is the linchpin that ties all of your business’s aesthetics together.

Whether you’re going to hire a pro or put those college art electives to good use, take a moment to heed some advice from the experts about what makes a biz logo “sticky” in the minds of web-savvy consumers.

Read On: 4 Things to Consider When Creating a Business Logo

Building an Army of Hyper-Local, Mobile-Connected Advocates - Advertising Age - DigitalNext

Building an Army of Hyper-Local, Mobile-Connected Advocates

Or, Why Marketers Should Pay Attention to Foursquare

Posted by Allison Mooney on Adage.com 08.05.09 @ 03:00 PM 

 

Allison Mooney

No, this isn't "the year for location" in mobile. That phrase has become industry cliche by now. But it's hard to ignore the hype that one location-based service called Foursquare is getting in some circles -- and no advertiser should. The NYC-based startup has built a sticky platform, an avid fan base and, quite possibly, the next-generation platform for proximity marketing.

Foursquare bills itself as 50% friend finder, 30% social city guide, 20% nightlife game. Basically, you tell it where you are (a bar, a park, a museum, whatever) by "checking in" (via iPhone app, SMS or mobile site). The service then tells your network of friends, recommends things to do in the area, and awards you points and badges for your activity. It also lets you recommend things other people should do and track what you have done yourself.

Part of the appeal of the service is how it links the digital and "real" worlds -- truly putting the "social" in "social networking." After its big unveiling at SXSW, the service has garnered a passionate and growing base of early adopters (full disclosure: I'm an alpha tester and "super user" myself). The other weekend, some avid Foursquarers in New York even organized a bar crawl, called Town Holler, for people who'd achieved "mayor" status at a certain venue.
....(Con't)

READ MORE Building an Army of Hyper-Local, Mobile-Connected Advocates on Advertising Age - DigitalNext

Foursquare + Your Business

Foursquare aims to encourage people to explore their neighborhoods and then reward people for doing so. We do this by combining our friend-finder and social city guide elements with game mechanics — our users earn points, win Mayorships and unlock badges for trying new places and revisiting old favorites.
As a business owner, you can use foursquare to engage your increasingly mobile customers with foursquare "Specials," which are discounts and prizes you can offer your loyal customers when they check in on foursquare at your venue. Don't forget to show extra love to your venue's Mayor! Additionally, if you offer foursquare Specials to your customers, you will be able to track how your venue is performing over time thanks to our robust set of venue analytics — for free!
If you want to dive right in, get started by claiming your venue right from its foursquare venue page:

Read More from foursquare

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