I admit it. I grew up in a fairly conservative culture and something like Earth Day was often seen as something “counter-culture” or what the “hippies” were into. Truth be told I am still a very conservative person both politically and religiously although my views don’t always fit into the boxes people would like. One of the areas I am “outside the box” is probably the recognition that taking care of our environment is a matter of stewardship. It a frame of mind that goes beyond alternative fuels, preventing animal extinctions, etc.

The recognition that I am a steward of the resources that has actually inspired the direction I have taken in business and home life and general innovative thinking. When web design and digital photography became available I was excited that I would be able to produce the original creative content without high printing costs. I also like to think of myself as an innovative thinker and thinking “green” spurs innovation like nothing else. “Alternative” energy is basically looking at everyday things in new light if you will excuse the pun.

During the late 80’s I worked at a Boy Scout camp in Northern Greenville County,SC. For 4 years I was the ecology-conservation director which for the most part meant we taught nature related merit badges to the campers. However we also were in charge of running a nature lodge and maintaining the trails and other areas in order to prevent erosion, etc. Other than my current job that was the most enriching job I ever held. I’m thankful I learned to see how geography, natural forces, plants and animals were created to work together and to also see the impact each of the elements have on each other.

I’m always on the lookout for how our business can be the best stewards or the resources we have from providing services that save fuel, participating in a roadside trash clean up, exploring and innovating technologies, etc. Last week I had the opportunity to hear Elizabeth Garrison of Ever Green Recycling, A Greenville, SC based company with a goal of help companies create and implement recycling programs that work for their businesses. Check out the web site and think about how you and your company can participate in ways to  How is rising fuel prices and environmental issues caused your company to think about innovation and seek out new solutions to provide good and services more effectively?

We have been going through some reorganization and refinements in our company. Technically we’re not doing anything different in terms of the services and products we’re offering but we are changing the way we communicate who we are and what we do.

If you look at our menu on this web site you will notice some wording of  categories and terms has changed.  “Internet” has been changed to “web” and while we are still exploring and optimizing web sites for portable devices we are making podcasting our singular focus within the realm of portable media. Our photography services will also be displayed more prominently.

Another area of clarification is we will start using the word, “market” instead of “share” to better focus on the fact we are helping our clients market their business, organization or personal brand. We are still in the process or making these changes but thanks to valuable feedback we have gotten from clients, business partners, friends and family we are making a step in the right direction to bring greater clarity to communicating the products and services we provide. We will be going over this site in the days ahead according to the same work flow procedure we provide our clients.  In addition expect to see news about our parent company, SpinningSilk, LLC in the days ahead. Exciting days are ahead.

We have already covered the topic of branding in a previous series but without rehashing too much it’s important to consider how branding fits into your overall marketing plan. The more I read about branding the more I realize it’s an everyday strategy, not just part of a campaign.  Yes, It’s important to have a “brand awareness” campaign or to have those times when you need to refocus on your who you are, not only as a company but also a person and representative of that company.

Is your brand consistent across all your marketing efforts?  I’ve mentioned before the importance of business blogging and involvement in social media as Internet tools for spreading your message. Sometime blatant but more often subtle.  Are you aware of your branding efforts in virtual and live networking events? Is your logo just an obligatory mark or does it tell a story?

According to the American Marketing Association, Integrated Marketing Communications is

A planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time.

This is the work of SpinningSilk Multimedia. We provide services and products with consistent branding using web, print, audio, video and other communications. Our core customer bases are small businesses and organizations and in particular churches, agencies and other organizations in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church* denomination. We have also done work with some fine local organizations in the Greenville, SC area. The for profit businesses that we have experiences with are construction contractor companies, business coaches and small business e-commerce stores.
Why is Integrated Marketing Communications so important to us and why should it be important to you? I don’t know about you but I hate having to run all over the place to get work done when it’s much better to have a central point of contact where you can be on the same page.

It’s incredibly easy to go the “free route” on so many things from restricted or ad supported free web services, do it yourself business cards or brochures,etc.  Some of these solutions are just fine for certain situations and I have nothing against someone printing their own business cards on an ink jet printer when they need an emergency run but for the long term you need to think long term and develop a relationship with a company experienced in the skills of communications, branding and marketing.

If a business or organization is serious about meeting long-term sales or donor goals, having a consistent brand and a central resource of experts is crucial. Can you do the work of Integrated Marketing yourself?  Maybe. Are you an expert in that area and how much time will it take away from what you are an expert in?  Marketing and sales don’t have to be overly expensive but you don’t want to do it on the cheap either. You’re business or organization needs a consistent branding program. Here is a checklist of things to consider and ask when seeking out and Integrated Marketing, graphic design, web design, print shop, etc.;

1. Does the company have graphic designers who know the difference between optimizing your images for the web and print?
2. Does the company know how to craft your content in such a way to make it compelling and search engine friendly?
3. Is it evident the company is paying attention to the latest trends in technology and marketing?
4. Even if the company is specializing on one aspect of marketing communications do they partner easy with other companies to get the work done?
5. Are they about showing themselves off or showing you off?
6. If you would like to do some things for yourself does the company give you the tools  like an easy web site content management system or files for printing short runs of business cards, etc?
7. Does the company practice what they preach? Do they have their own blog, professional business cards, etc?

Yes, I’m trying to “sell my companies services” in this post.  This post describes what we do as a business and we would love to meet with you to talk about your communication and branding needs.

*We didn’t design the web site for the main denomination web site. That one is done in-house but we have developed sites and helped with other issues for several of the denominations agencies.

2007 was a turning point year for SpinningSilk Multimedia and our parent company, SpinningSilk, LLC and the first month of 2008 seemed to have as many positive milestones and the whole year of 2007. February 2008 is looking great as well!

Milestones reached in 2007–

Established downtown Greenville office
Became a LLC after a few years as a sole proprietorship
Became more active in the PNC–involved in two networks
Became an active organizer of the Upstate Entrepreneur’s Forum
Established a business partnership with CHIC Magazine
Increased sales by 48% for the year!

Milestones Jan. 2008

Joined the Greenville Chamber of Commerce
Participated as a stop in a virtual book tour and interviewed Seth Godin
Prepared to launch E-mail defense service
Launched new Blog & Business Card package

Future 2008 Goals…so far

Our first in-company podcast
podcasts for our clients and our own original shows
Selling managed services to protect and restore your valuable content
A seminar for local business people on the importance of new media in their marketing efforts