Three years ago when we started our company, it was a web design company. That’s all. After a few months we realized we could be more, and over that year we emerged as an “ad agency for small business”. I think the second product we began offering was business cards. We made our own cards and we were getting compliments on them everywhere we went. Today, of all the different things our agency offers (SEO, web design, hosting, printing, consulting, distribution, etc), business cards are what we sell the 3rd most of. I love designing and printing business cards for local businesses because it’s easy work, quick turnaround and a low cost for a very high-quality product.

Why are business cards one of our best selling products? I think it’s because of the quality of our cards quite simply. The quality for the value can’t be beat. Many businesses get their cards online from places like Vistaprint… and their cards aren’t terrible, but they’re also not professional. They look nice from a distance, but up close in your hand Vistaprint’s products are a little flimsy and cheap feeling. A lot of other small businesses opt to get their business cards printed from a local print shop. These are great for people who need gold stamping and specialty cards. But for the average Joe who just wants a nice looking branded card on high-quality durable paper stock the local print shops are usually a little pricey. Nice work, but expensive. Vistaprint… low quality and inexpensive. What Commonwealth Creative Marketing does, is take high-quality, durable card stock and print colorful high-end ink digitally onto a UV-coated semi-gloss or non-gloss paper stock. It’s affordable and it looks amazing. Is there any downside? Only that it may take up to a week to fulfill an order because quality takes time. So if you have a week to wait, we’ll save you money and deliver you a top-notch business card product you’ll keep coming back for. Count on CCM for the best business cards in Virginia Beach.

You can learn more about our business card options and pricing by visiting CCM’s business card page.

By now someone has probably told you that you should blog. They may have mentioned that it’s “good for SEO” if you blog but they probably didn’t tell you exactly how or why. Here’s the deal… you can blog all you want but if you’re not optimizing your blog the right way it won’t do much good.

There are basically two reasons to blog. 1. You want people to read what you wrote about a topic. 2. You want to help increase your site’s SEO and traffic. Personally, I could almost care less if anyone read my blog. I blog for SEO purposes mainly. So how do you blog for SEO?

Well, the first step in blogging for SEO purposes is to write Continue reading »

How To Start a Business in Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is a great place to do business because it’s a fairly easy state to operate in with fair tax rates. Some states make it more difficult, a few may make it easier, but very few states offer the diverse demographics and geographical beauty, options and cultural diversity that Virginia does, making it an ideal grounds for clientele for any business. Whether you’re thinking of starting a new business in Virginia Beach, Richmond, Fairfax, Roanoke, Danville or Abington, it’s all basically the same. The following is a helpful list of things that you’ll need to do in order to succeed in your entrepreneurial endeavor.

1. Write a business plan.
2. Know your competition.
3. Develop a Marketing plan.
4. Identify what “kind” of business license you should have.
5. Come up with a budget.
6. Market your business.

1. Write a Business Plan

Why are you going into business? What will you sell? How will you sell it? What makes you different? Why are you special? How do you want to be seen in the marketplace? From whom will you get your supplies? What will you offer that will make people come back for more? What is your budget? (see budget below, later). Write out about a 3 pages business plan. Identify the basics and what’s important, but don’t get too in depth with it, spending weeks and months formulating it. The reason why you shouldn’t is because your business Continue reading »

Early on in my career I got a “thrown to the fire” introduction to Corporate America.  Out of college I worked for a large corporation that had clients that were even bigger corporations.  Even though I wasn’t working for an “ad agency” like I’d wanted to, I was gaining solid business experience.  It didn’t take long to figure out I didn’t really enjoy the corporate atmosphere of being monitored all hours of the day, the ties, the shoes, the reports, the pep rallies and so on.  I kind of imagined myself doing my job unbothered by bosses and only bothered by people who needed my help… and me sort of acting as a central helper and having time to have fun while I worked.  I wanted to wake up excited to go to work, not dreading it. I also wanted to wear flip flops but I knew that was pushing it a little.

I finally gathered up enough “business experience” in my field that a real, respected Ad Agency deemed me acceptable to hire.  It was a great feeling and I finally felt like I was doing what I’d always wanted to do, working in the environment I’d always wanted to and with the types of people I dreamed about.  What I learned next Continue reading »

A lot of people who use Social Media platforms to market their businesses think of it strictly in terms of sales and marketing; I beg to differ.  I think that Social Media usefulness has morphed in many ways to a typical Public Relations concept.

Wikipedia defines Public Relations thusly:

public relations plural of pub·lic re·la·tions (Noun)

That said, does Social Media, in particular Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc as used for business or non-profit marketing fit that definition?  We think so.  We at Commonwealth Creative Marketing have been utilizing a public relations component in our SEO campaigns for clients for quite some time in the form of reviews as well as social media, and we tend to market social media outsourcing as PR, not as marketing.  Public Relations are supposed to build your positive reputation in the public sphere, build top-of-mind consciousness, and help you retain the customers you already have.  Social Media does all of that very well, through engagement and online conversation, as well as the inevitable sharing that occurs with engaging content.

When you have data that can be fuzzy, that is not Internet marketing, per se; Most marketing avenues have tracking mechanisms in place.  Even billboards have a count of how many cars drive by on any given day!  But it is almost impossible to track whether someone saw your Facebook posting 17 times in their newsfeed, then heard a good word of mouth from a friend, then checked out your website, before they finally called and then purchased.  If you have social media well integrated with your other marketing components, however, you can demonstrate at least some benefit through engagement and feedback, even if you don’t have a hard number of conversions.

So consider taking a PR look at your marketing campaigns, and also consider how social media can best serve you as a public relations piece.

A question I hear a lot is “How come if my site is so good my traffic is declining?”  Or, “why am I getting so few hits on my site, it’s only 6 months old?”

What I keep hearing myself say in response is “the Field of Dreams approach to websites no longer works.  You can build it; it does not mean they will come.”  

I use the Field of Dreams analogy because for a long time I think that is largely what worked, at least for many sites.  Not that SEO did not exist or that quality design and solid keywords did not matter, but 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago, the Internet was not so FULL.  According to DOMO, there are 571 new websites created every minute of every day, and there are over 2 million searches initiated on Google in that same minute.  So yeah, the space is crowded and busy.

Given those types of numbers there are a few things for every business owner of every site to consider, especially my clientele, locally owned small businesses:

1. Search Engine Optimization is no longer a luxury item, it is a must.  You need to have ongoing SEO practices engaged to stay relevant and competitive.  That means actually using analytics to track what is bringing people to your site, what is keeping them on your site, and having specific conversion goals.

2. Content is still king: adding relevant content through blogs, photos, products, comments, etc., must happen on a regular basis.  A static website is a lower ranked website.

3. Social Media is becoming more important when it comes to branding and public relations.  Using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Youtube, etc can help you grow your online footprint and provide links back to your site, which is always the goal.  I am leery of saying it can be a lead generator, although it can and has been for me personally.  But that took months of organic cultivation and a focus on engagement and a willingness to put in the time with no discernible immediate result.

So small business website design not only has to incorporate quality design from the cosmetic and sales and organic perspective, but needs to be adopted with the knowledge that if you build it, you better incorporate SEO and other forms of marketing into your plan if you want the people to come.  It is no longer enough to just be there.

See you on the web!

~Kim

Knowing that you need a website, or that you need a BETTER website is one thing. But in order for a web designer to be able to knock your socks off by constructing what you have imaged in your head is the most important, and sometimes tricky part. As an owner of a web design firm, I see a big mix of clients come in my door. Some know exactly what they want and lay it all out on the table for our staff to clearly see. Others just seem to be unhappy with their current/old site and want something new. The later always seems to segway into several meaningful conversations about what “you like” and you “don’t like”, what you’ve seen out on the web that you like, and how you envision your new website looking and working. It’s okay to be somewhat unprepared with knowing what you want. Part of my job is to help my clients figure that out. But in an ideal fantasy world, it sure would be nice if every client coming through a web designer’s door had an answer to these five questions:

1. Why do you want a new site? To be more specific… Why do you hate your current site? Does it not generate enough leads? Is it too difficult to navigate? Does it look old and boring? There are many, Continue reading »

There has been a lot of ugly press lately about the differences between personal and charitable giving, between what a “community organizer” is versus just a person who gets stuff done in their community.  I have to say that I am far less interested in any of those drummed up political arguments than I am in hearing why people chose to be involved in their communities, usually in ways that do not seem to profit themselves.  

I never did any charitable or political work until after I had kids.   I think it was all about me up until then; once my daughter came along I realized that if I wanted to see the world I wanted for her, I was going to have to be a part of making it happen.

I started donating to Samaritan House, a local charity that shelters victims of domestic violence. Once I had one in pre-school I wound up getting involved in PTA, ultimately winding up being PTA president, twice. I then was asked to work on Mark Warner’s campaign for governor. From there I was asked to chair and plan multiple charity events and auctions. And it just never stopped after that.
Continue reading »

Note from Kim:  I do a great deal of networking and CCM gets many referrals that are based in relationships founded in networking.  I get questions about the “how” and “why” of networking all the time, so I thought I would let Early explain his viewpoint to you.   Enjoy!

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We all have to do it, some hate to do it but fewer people know how to do it! It’s call networking and for some, it is the ultimate ‘dirty word’. Why? We are usually intimidated when we walk into a room of strangers with a hand full of business cards. We don’t know who to talk to first, we don’t have any idea of what we want out of the experience and most importantly, we don’t know what the other person is after. It boils down to knowing your audience and knowing how you can deliver what they REALLY want. Realistically, everybody has a need that they want filled. Here are a few points to remember as you go to your next ‘Networking Event’.

(1) As a rule of thumb, keep conversations to a minimum in the bathroom:  I don’t know about you, but I am usually not in the mood to discuss a sale as I exit a stall. I’m more concerned with washing my hands and getting out. But time after time, I have been approached by an eager networker to get the jump on me. No thanks, let’s chat over the buffet.

(2) Do not start off too ‘Joe’: This is so offensive. When someone walks up and begins joking and talking as if you guys were high school buddies. The real purpose of networking is not to make best friends. It is to provide an introduction to another level of service and resources. So take it slow and respectful.

Continue reading »

Look, I get it; it is really, really, REALLY hot outside.  And it feels really kinda gross and hot even inside.  And the idea of getting into your hot car and driving on the hot roads and having to summon the energy to engage with a client is exhausting and makes you crave a swimming pool or a trip to the Arctic.

I get it.

It does not matter at all.  You still have to connect with your clients. Continue reading »