Yesterday I followed the announcement of the iPhone SDK release and we have made the decision to focus on developing for this product as our niche in the mobile market.  Last year we purchased an iPhone so we could begin exploring future uses in our business.  We feel this is where the future is headed in terms of developing web and stand-alone applications that people can access 24/7 and at any location in a rich and meaningful way.
We have a lot of innovative projects and ideas that are perfect for this device. Of course we will be developing podcasts for clients that you can listen or view on the iPhone, iTouch or other iPods. This is what we call portable media. We also want to create programs that will enable clients and customers to create compelling content and organize it in innovative ways.  We plan on developing applications for business, productivity, photography, etc. Expect to see more announcements soon.

We feel this will be an excellent way to enhance our web design and development options. We want to give our clients the tools and ability for their customers to access their information from anywhere, at anytime.  The personal computer definitely has it’s place but the ultimate goal is to give people the freedom to access information and conduct commerece where needed.  We could work at developing for other mobile platforms but we feel it’s more important to hone in our a particular niche in much the same way we are working with a specific content management program for our web site projects.

It’s our desire to be known as one of the premire iPhone/iTouch developers in the Greenville,SC as well as Upstate,SC Market.

I get the feeling that when I tell people our company provides “web design” services they are thinking we may only be creating several pages with some links, a contact form, etc. It’s true that a lot of companies only ask or are aware of the basic services it’s important to know we can provide many more solutions that take advantage of technologies hosted on the web. Some of these include;

• Business Blogging
• Product photography optimized for the web
• Podcasting (audio or video)
• Business blogging
• Community building/Social Networking Features
• File hosting
• Secured Sites
• Virtual office solutions
• Calendaring and Event Planning
• E-commerce
• E-mail filtering
• Backups
• Video and Audio Conferencing
• RSS enabled news feeds

A lot of these features can be incorporated into a companies web site under their own domain but what you may not know is we can also work with you to develop your companies presence on other sites optimized for things like video, social networking and virtual offices. We are knowledgeable about a lot of these solutions and can provide our clients with innovative ways to have an optimized web presence.  What other services or products can companies that are known for basic web design provide that are innovative and makes you more productive?

As I bring this series to a close I need to make a point that I am not a full-time “branding expert.” We are, however, in the business of producing products and tools that allow your company to meet it’s branding, marketing and communication goals.

I believe that consistent and compelling branding is crucial to any business from the large multi-national corporation to the one person entrepreneurial venture. It’s  my desire to offer services and products that make this easy for our clients.

They’re people and companies out there that focus on nothing but branding and all of it’s aspects. Some of these people and/or companies have many years of experience when it comes to branding and it’s these experts that I turn to for reference and guidance when it comes to branding my own business as well as helping others with their branding and marketing needs.

The following is a list of books, blogs and podcasts I turn to and respect. You will notice that not all of them agree and some are passionately against one another but it’s great to seek out diverse viewpoints to develop the strategies that work for you.

Books -
Meatball Sundae - Is Your Marketing out of Sync?
Purple Cow - Transform Your Business by Being remarkable
Making Meaning - How companies Deliver Meaningful Customer Experiences
The Cult of Mac
Branding For Non-Profits
The Brand Called You
Stand Out! Branding Strategies for Business Professionals
Integrated Branding

Blogs -

The Brand Builder Blog
Brains of Fire Blog
Small Business Branding
Branding Strategy Insider
Brand Autopsy
The Branding Blog by Brand Identity Guru

Podcasts -

The Engaging Brand
Podcasts listed at Small Business Branding
Personal Branding Summit

Of course this is an incomplete list. It would be impossible to give a complete list but these are the ones I have experience with and know. If you would like to suggest other books, blogs, podcasts or other resources feel free to leave a comment.  I’d love to learn more as well as other people who read this blog.

Thank you so much for reading this series.  As you may have noticed I have already touched on the term, marketing in this series and that will be the focus of the next series.

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.

One of my first branding experiences in my professional life involved helping a religious non-profit organization develop a consistent brand. I was not the official person in charge of this but I was doing a lot of the leg work including redesigning the logo, advising on a video production, etc. At the time I was working for Outreach North America, the church planting and revitalization agency of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. ONA had hired Jeff Hathcock to help ONA market itself better to the churches and presbyteries of the ARP. In fact it was probably Jeff who drilled into me the importance of consistent branding which became a core focus of my company when I went into business for myself.

The concepts of branding and marketing may seem like “worldly” or less than noble concerns to many churches and non-profits for a variety of reasons, many of which are based on myths or misunderstanding of branding and marketing. Some of those include;

• It’s too expensive
• It’s a “worldly method” and we need to trust in God or our mission is “noble enough”
• If we focus too much on marketing we will look “showy” or our donors may think we are wasting their money.

They are many more but those are some of the most common objections and roadblocks to branding and marketing a church or non-profit organization. Sadly this attitude come across all to well. Jeff’s company, U-Turn, Inc. * specializes in church marketing among other things. One of the aspects of church branding and marketing he points out is the need project a clear message of what your church or organization is all about as opposed to how big of a noise you can make. You are probably thinking that church branding or marketing only involves signs, web sites, brochures, etc. but have you ever considered the building and grounds, Quality of the sunday school program or how visitors are greeted?

Maybe you are involved with a non-profit organization that is not a church. What are the concerns there? Often they are the exact same concerns. A limited budget, volunteer workers, perceived notion or worry about spending too much on “marketing”, etc. Having experience with some local non-profits groups I can tell you a lot of the concerns are the same. As a small business owner I am fascinated and encouraged that the concepts and skills of small business branding can apply to churches and non-profits as well. Including;

• Focusing on a core mission and communicating it with focus
• Taking advantage networking within the community at large, not just inside my “circle.” If you “preach to the choir” you may be facing the wrong way!
• You don’t have to spend a lot of money, just a little time to have a consistent image

When people think of your church or non-profit do they have a clear image of who you are and what you stand for? Does your brochures, business cards and web site all have the same message, logo and look clean and professional or does it look like it has been done by different people at different times?

One of SpinningSilk Multimedia’s core client bases is churches and non-profits, Especially churches and ministries in the ARP Church. We are also involved with quite a few community non-profit organizations that help our community grow. How can we help we help you based on that experience? What questions do you have based on our experience with churches or groups?

*Disclaimer- U-Turn, Inc. is also a client of SpinningSilk Multimedia