Blue Zoo Creative

New Faces at Blue Zoo Creative

Collin and Eric — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:24:51 +0000

Blue Zoo Creative is proud to announce three new additions to our staff.

Head Zoo Keeper
Megan Donley

Megan, our NEW Director of Operations has been a long time fan of Blue Zoo Creative. She brings a new level of organization and structure to better communicate with our clients and streamline projects. If you’re starting a new project with us, Megan will be setting you up with our Online Project Management system and keep you (and us) on task.

Director of Social Media Connectivity
Dianne Riggs

Dianne joins Blue Zoo Creative with a background in Social Psychology. Not only are we able to use all the great online tools available, our clients can now benefit from a deeper level of social connections in the digital realm.

If you need to connect more with your clients or potential clients, Dianne is the person to bring your groups and circles together.

Director of Growth and Innovation
Brad Volz

Brad joins team ‘Zoo’ with a passion for sustainability and simplicity. He’s excited to connect with new partners, help grow their business, and find innovative strategies for marketing online.

Business is more than selling. It’s about connecting people, passion, and vision.

Welcome to the menagerie!

The Yin and Yang of Your WordPress Site

Collin and Eric — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:39:03 +0000

In the summer of 2011, we had the pleasure of speaking at WordCamp Fayetteville here in Arkansas. The video of our presentation is now available online. In this talk we “explore the quantum makeup of your digital matrix persona you never realized existed, the ‘oneness’ of all beings in the digital ethos, and how to transcend the highest peaks of spirituality in order to bring your enlightenment to others.”

In plain English: design that communicates, social media strategy that networks, and marketing messaging that sells.

Enjoy the video, and if you’d like to watch the slideshow, it is embedded below the video.

Yin & Yang of Your WordPress site at WordCamp Fayetteville 7/30/11

Logo, Brand, and Identity

Collin and Eric — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:11:57 +0000

When it comes to graphic design, some language is a little confusing. This happens in nearly every industry where you have to come up with terms, phrases, and instructions to describe things and actions. You will never hear a graphic designer say, “Pass the scalpel,” but you may hear one say, “Pass the Exacto…carefully.”

Different tools. Different terms.

Both are used to cut.

We’ve had several questions lately about logos, identity, and branding. We thought we’d give you a quick run down.

LOGO

A logo is strictly a symbol, mark, or signature that identifies a company. It doesn’t sell or describe, but it does identify. Just like your name identifies you, but doesn’t say anything about your beliefs, philosophy or mission in life. You will begin to build recognition with your logo depending on your reputation and actions. A logo should be as unique as possible and establish your colors, fonts, and symbols.

BRAND

A brand is your company’s perceived image. What you do. What your employees do. How you interact with clients. What you stand for. All these things you do, own, or produce should project your goals of your business. A logo can reflect a brand, but a brand should not reflect a logo.

IDENTITY

An Identity is separate from the brand and focuses on the company’s image. Guidelines are setup for how you will visually represent your company. This is an extension of what is developed in a logo. Colors, fonts, layouts, measurements, and photographic elements, all have guidelines for being marketed in magazines, tv, web, etc. This helps your BRAND become consistent and cohesive.

Let us, at Blue Zoo Creative, know how we can help you in these areas.

Facebook and Google Ads for Small Business

Collin and Eric — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:12:43 +0000

Digital Advertising for Small Business January 2012

View more presentations from Collin Condray

Here is the presentation that I gave on January 19, 2012 at the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. Included are the basics of strategy, setup, and metrics for using Facebook ads and Google AdWords for small businesses.

Unfortunately, the battery on my Flipcam died so we don’t have video of this presentation. However, here are the videos of our Facebook ads case study from last time:

A Brief Overview of Search Engine Optimization

Collin and Eric — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:30:53 +0000

Web searches are still one of the most important ways that businesses are found online, but it can be mysterious how your competitors’ sites are in the top search ranks while your site doesn’t show up until page three. In this talk, presented to the Northwest Arkansas Network Builders BNI group, I go over the basic factors that search engines consider when deciding where your website shows up in the search rankings.

Here is the video of the event:

And here is the PowerPoint presentation that’s in the background:

SEO Basics BNI Talk

View more presentations from Collin Condray

This is, of course, just an overview. There are a lot of factors that influence search engines. If you’d like us to do more research on your site to find out why you’re not ranking as you should, please let us know.

Blue Zoo Creative Internet Marketing Seminars for January 2012

Collin and Eric — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:52:37 +0000

This month, Collin along with the Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center will be giving Lunch and Learn presentations on how you can use location based services such as Foursquare and Facebook Places and digital advertising using Google and Facebook ads to improve your business. The talks will be held at the Fayetteville Chamber from 11 AM to 1 PM. Digital Advertising will be held on January 19th and Location Based Services will be held on January 26th. To sign up, please visit the ASBTDC website.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Collin and Eric — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:58:04 +0000

Thanks to everyone for a great first year at Blue Zoo Creative!

We’ll be closed the week between Christmas and New Years and look forward to helping more businesses get online in 2012.

Client Spotlight: Ozark Literacy Council

Collin and Eric — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:25:06 +0000

Blue Zoo Creative has been happy to work with Wendy Poole, the Executive Director of the Ozark Literacy Council to update their website. In operation for 47 years, the Ozark Literacy Council is located in Fayetteville and is Arkansas’ oldest and largest literacy council. The original site had a functional but older design, but we wanted excellent way of showing off it’s new direction and that it’s under new management. This new site has a number of new features including a blog, photo gallery, and video support.

Additionally, it uses the WordPress content management system which makes updating the site about as complicated as updating a Microsoft Word document. This functionality lets Wendy describe new policies and programs for our two types of students, native English speakers and international students, without needing to learn a complicated system.

The Ozark Literacy council has over 60 volunteers and 220 students from 35 countries. The new site is used recruit more volunteers and inform potential students how they can improve their English literacy.

The new website makes it easier for visitors to donate as well. With a prominent donate button as well as the ability to pay online for our annual Open Book Affair fundraiser.

Please visit the Ozark Literacy Council’s website and let them know how you like their new site. If you know of anyone would needs help in developing their English literacy or would like to volunteer their time, please contact us.

Facebook Ads Case Study Part 2

Collin and Eric — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:31:03 +0000

Here is part 2 of the Facebook Ads case study from the Understanding Online Ads talk hosted by the University of Arkansas’ Small Business and Technology Development Center. The speaker is Collin Condray of Blue Zoo Creative.

Part 1 can be found here.

Facebook Ads Case Study Part 1

Collin and Eric — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:57:51 +0000

This is part 1 of the case study excerpt from the Understanding Online Ads talk given by Collin Condray of Blue Zoo Creative on behalf of the University of Arkansas’ Small Business and Technology Development Center. This presentation covers how small businesses can use Facebook and Google ads to help their business. It included how they fit into the overall online strategy, best practices on setting them up, and key metrics to monitor the campaign.