The Ultimate Conundrum: Trying Too Hard

One of the biggest mistakes people make is this: they try too hard.

Before you kickback in your seat at the office, throwing your feet on the desk to catch a quick snooze, that’s not what I meant. What I mean is that people are so antsy to achieve success and perfection that they end up forcing a mediocre, less impressive final result...just to get it done. People tend to envision a final goal, just to reach it, even if they lose possibilities along the way.

We see this every day. We see it in the singers on the X-Factor, belting out off-key “notes” in an attempt to show their range in a short time. We see it in fashionistas, who, as they endeavor to start a trend, create obscure outfits that, although providing shock value, do not reflect their talent at all. And, in marketing, we see it in advertisements that utilize loud colors, patterns, and designs so thought-out and unoriginal as to be nearly blinding and, in the case of neon, headache-inducing.

In college, I took a visual communications course, where our semester project was to re-brand a communications room on campus. The room was going to be the epicenter for meetings, group discussions, student-led seminars, and a variety of other things, as well as a creative study space for students when it wasn’t otherwise occupied.

It was actually a really cool idea, and I was excited to be a part of it. In a society where competition thrives, we were split into groups. At the end of the semester, a “winner” would be declared, their brand image used. As an English major, and the current in-house writer for CGR, my experience with visual arts and graphic design was limited to the occasional use of Photoshop and personal web design.

As a group, we decided that the best way to complete the project would be to work individually-together. What I mean is that we each decided to create a model for the brand requirements (ie: a business card, a logo, a brochure, etc.), and together we would fuse our favorite aspects of each individual’s design into one final product. We were all happy with this plan, as it would give us each plenty of hands-on work to complete, and we also thought it would give our client the opportunity to choose without limitation.

But there’s always that one group member who rocks the boat.

For us, his name was Jon, and he was the quintessence of this kind of “trying too hard”--aka going nowhere, fast. At the start of each class, two of the other group members and I would congregate a corner in the computer lab, where we would work, show each other our designs, and help each other. It is one of the best group experiences I've had, second to working at CGR. Without fail, Jon would come bursting into the classroom about thirty minutes later, in a red hoodie (every day—for a semester—the same hoodie), mumbling some excuse about how he hated the bus, and take over. He’d shove my hand away from the mouse and restructure my designs, or he would loom over the shoulder of another group member and criticize their work. And then he did this really cool thing where he would interrupt our idea-sharing discussions to say, “That's okay...but I have a better idea--much easier, more efficient.” He also attempted to write our final brand report, insisting, "People like it when you use long words. It makes it sound better. I just make them up to sound smarter."

Hi, I'm all for creativity, but no.

Jon did very little actual work, and his ideas were appalling, as he utilized vulgar humor for the logo and a lack of professionalism and creativity for everything else. His only goal was to finish the semester, to win, and to attract attention…with minimum work and as little exertion as possible because sometimes trying too hard to "be done" is the same as not trying at all.

It should come as no surprise that the other group members and I were sick of it. At one point, we met with the client to show him our progress and to receive feedback. The three of us had a variety of examples of our combined work, as well as a portfolio containing each individual’s examples so that we could cover all bases and give him the power to choose. Imagine our surprise when Jon showed up with his own manila folder and announced that he would be presenting independently. Somewhere in the midst of being late to class and wearing his red hoodie, Jon had found the time to complete his own brand work.

At first I was worried that the colorful, shock value of Jon’s approach would appeal to the client.

But guess what?

The client was unimpressed, calling Jon’s overdone work “distracting”, "unoriginal", and “forgettable”. What he was impressed with, however, was a logo design that the other members and I had made through our combined efforts. We had placed it at the bottom of the stack because it was honestly a creative mistake. It happened one day in class, when we were really tired, and really bored, so we just frantically clicked random buttons on Photoshop. What resulted was something like a tiger slash in the middle of the screen. Did I mention that our school mascot was a tiger?

But a slash. That was it. We couldn’t figure out how to get rid of it, so we included it simply to bulk up our portfolio.

And that’s what impressed the client. It wasn’t the well-planned designs or the perfectly centered logos, and it certainly wasn’t Jon’s “one and done” approach. It was a slash.

In a society where competition reigns, but no one wins, we discovered that, at some point in the semester, our client had secretly planned his own brand design and never intended to use any of ours. Regardless, we discovered something about work: it can be fun. It had been what happened when we weren’t trying too hard or focusing on the end that had given us personal success. It was what happened when we were having fun.

I think we all learned a lesson from that class. Well, all of us except for Jon, who, at the end of the semester, snatched from my hand the large binder we’d spent days organizing and handed it to our professor saying, “All of these ideas are mine; they just didn't credit me" before walking out the door. (I’m not kidding. Luckily, the professor had already told us that Jon would be failing the course based on his attendance and...surprise, surprise...lack of work.)

My lesson to you is this. You should always try your hardest. You should always have a goal in sight. You should be great because you are great. But sometimes you’ll find the greatest success when you take a deep breath, relax, and let yourself have fun because, sometimes, it isn't the end that matters--it's what you did to get there.

Besides, why do lackluster work when you’re better than that?


-Hayley Lyons

"I'm Not Creative": Myth Debunked

“I’m not creative.”

This kills me. Whenever people say this to me, I’m tempted to patter on about how “Everyone is creative”, “You just have your own sense of imagination”, and “Creativity isn't limited to art”, but, despite the fact that these are my true beliefs, I know that it comes off as nothing more than a sales pitch, with a side of motherly advice. At least I don’t include the tag “in your own special way” at the end of my pattering. Right?

...Right?

I mean, I, for instance, could easily say, “I can’t paint.” But that’s not true. Despite what fellow classmates in a painting class may have told you, I can put a paintbrush in my hands, dip it in some paint, and slap it on a canvas. Voila. I painted. What I should be saying is, “I won’t be recognized for my painting.” Oh, well. For whatever reason, people tend to believe that they aren’t creative if they don’t get paid, if other people aren’t ‘entertained’, or if they're unable to receive outside approval.

Why, oh why, would you let other people determine your creativity? Have you seen other people lately? Miley Cyrus cut her hair to look like Draco Malfoy (if you know what I’m talking about, virtual *high five*), they’re bringing sideburns back in style, and, on a personal note, I can hear my next-door neighbor serenading her chihuahua through the walls. It seems to me that these ‘other people’ may not be the end-all-be-all determining forces in discovering your creativity.

Oh, and it’s your creativity—emphasis on you.

Still don’t believe me? Well I’ll help you with the first step right now.

What is something that makes you happy? No--more than happy. I hate that word, anyway—it never seems strong enough. So what gives you that indefinable, indescribable feeling of happiness, euphoria, joy, and bliss all in one. And then, what does it inspire you to do? For me, I can best describe it as a chai tea latte after a refreshing run in brisk autumn weather, with Joe Purdy playing in the background. And then, when I get that inspirational inclination that others describe as “happy”, I write.

What is it that you like to do when you’re inspired? I’m not asking what inspires you (although I am interested in that, as well). I’m asking what do you do when you’re inspired?

You may not paint, sculpt, perform, write, or take pictures, but creativity is not limited to the expected outlets. Maybe you have a favorite sport, and, when you’re inspired, you want to play a game, or a match. You thrive on the competition, both with yourself and with opponents, and you push to better yourself each time. Or maybe you've started your own business, and, after years of searching for your purpose, you've found it. You go into work each day with new ideas to improve the business, and, although you’re physically tired at the end of the day, you secretly look forward to tomorrow, your motivation remaining strong. Poetry isn’t always on paper, after all. Sometimes it’s in the kick of a soccer ball or the innovation of a business.

A friend of mine believes that he isn’t creative.

“I just wasn’t born with it,” he says, insisting that his strengths are “strictly logical”.

But I’ve seen him build six-foot tall shelves, without taking a single look at the instruction manual, fix chairs that were labeled irreparable, and even untie the knots of necklaces that were considered to be permanently tangled. And, I know what you're thinking, he isn't even Superman! Kidding aside, he is able to look at building, creating, and repairing in a way that most people can't.

Can his creativity be put on paper or burned to a mix tape? Maybe not. But not all creativity has to be mainstream. It’s 2012; don’t we reject the mainstream anyway?

So the next time you try to say, “I’m not creative”, please reconsider: Anything you do, especially that which you feel inspired to do, is creative and unique to you. Maybe you’ve improved a homemade cake recipe. Maybe you have perfect comedic timing in everyday conversations, which, although it may not take you to SNL, makes your friends and family laugh. You might give really good advice or know how to make people look at basic situations in a different light. Or maybe you’re one of those people who sets your shampoo bottles upside down, so that the shampoo is already at the lid when you’re ready to open it--By Jove, I think you're onto something!.

Okay, maybe I was reaching with that last one, but you get the idea. Creativity can sometimes be found in the mundane. And, for my last bit of motherly advice, I believe in you!

Get creative!


-Hayley Lyons

From Blackberry to iPhone

If five years ago you told me that touch screens were the next big thing, I never would have believed you. Even as touch screen cell phones were starting to become popular, I had zero interest. I figured they wouldn't work as well as buttons and the typing must be impossible. I was a die-hard Blackberry user and swore that I'd never use an iPhone... that didn't last long.

One by one, all of my friends got iPhones, and I began to count down the days until my contract was up. I couldn't wait to get an iPhone. As I switched from my beloved Blackberry to my new iPhone, I felt a little bit nostalgic. I had really loved my Blackberry. A few weeks later, I was addicted. I loved the big screen and the ease of my new iPhone. I loved all of the apps and I loved Siri.

I can't imagine using anything but my iPhone, and I am excited to see what the new iPhone 5 can do. The internet is swirling with rumors about what it will look like. So far it is rumored to have a bigger screen, thinner appearance, and a smaller dock connector. I'm hoping the new iPhone also has an improved Siri. Sales for the iPhone 4S are slowing, as Apple gets ready to release the iPhone 5. It's rumored that the new iPhone will be released in October. This is all rumor, of course, but until then, I will be anxiously awaiting the release of the new iPhone.

By:Lauren Menichella

Tech Dependence

Last week I tried to bring up an important email on my phone only to find that I couldn’t log into my email. My G-mail account had been hacked recently, forcing me to change my password quickly and without putting much thought into it. I had been using my old password for almost nine years now, a terrible habit, but I had grown comfortable with its familiarity. Now I stood outside my meeting, unable to access this important email, because I was unable to remember my new password.

Sure, I had written it down, but the sticky note on the bottom of my desk was no good to me, as I stood outside the conference, furiously typing in possible combinations of numbers and letters in a desperate attempt to break into my own account. I ended up going into the meeting without the numbers I wanted off my phone, and surprisingly enough the world didn’t end. The situation did get me thinking, however, about how dependent I had become on my computer and phone remembering things for me. I can’t even imagine the kind of wreck I would be if I were to lose my phone or computer and the data on them for good.

As the conveniences of modern technology have grown, my powers as a mental storage machine have begun to regress. Back in middle school, I had many phone numbers of friends and family memorized. Now I sometimes stumble when reciting my own phone number. Why waste brainpower remembering anything these days? Our cellphones save hundreds of contacts and our computers can automatically fill out our log-ins and passwords for us. This system of entering all my information at once and then forgetting about it has been very convenient up until now.

Last week's email debacle opened my eyes to just how easy it would be for me to lose years of collected data. With all the advancements in collecting, storing, and sharing information, how much of this data is going into our long-term memory and not just a bookmark folder on our desktop?

For me, it appears that most of what I think I know is reliant on a fully functioning phone or computer. Often, I find myself saving online news articles to read at a later date, only to delete them the next time I clean out my bookmark folder, the articles still unread. Technology has made it so easy to find and store information that I fear we spend more time searching than we do absorbing what we find.

Everyday we are bombarded with emails, text messages, conversations, commercials, television shows, new acquaintances, and news stories. All this information is coming at us in a constant torrent throughout the day, and we are expected to take it all, process it, store what we find important, and quickly move on to the next item of business. We have become so greedy by the stimulation of new information that we now even create and horde daily happenings on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. It is no wonder I can’t remember a password I made up with only a day ago; it is buried under a pile of never ending information. I have grown too accustomed to having all this information and technology saved for me, data that I can lose with a simple hard drive crash or stolen phone. How easy it would be for me to lose all my music, emails, contacts, bookmarks, and passwords in an instant. Yes, I have everything saved on a back up drive, and cloud sharing systems are making this less of an issue, but just the thought of all the reliance I have put into technology is a little frightening. My inability to access my email, it seems, has shaken me awake from this digital dream, opened my eyes to just how much I could lose if something happened to my computer or phone.

Our ability to find and share information will only continue to improve in the years to come. Unfortunately, the unaltered human system cannot hope to contain all the data that we are able to access. It's important for us to develop ways to filter the constant stream of garbage that is thrown at us each and every day, storing it not only in our electronic devices, but also in our memory. I am not saying down with the machines, throw down your web-enabled devices, and go back to living in the woods; I just think it is a good idea for us all to slow down once in a while from our constant hording of information and actually absorb some knowledge.

By: Embra King

Creative Marketing is Effective Marketing

I recall reading an article about word-of-mouth marketing used in California. Movie studios were hiring attractive people and models to stand in public areas and crowds and discuss movies and how much they liked them. This marketing strategy works on many levels. For the point of this article it is both creative and effective because it is a fresh approach to breaking down the barriers of immunity to marketing that customers inherently have.

This form of marketing uses attractive people, as others will better value their opinion by wanting to associate with them as successful looking people. It is just a fact that the messages of good-looking people or people with power are more appealing and likely to take root. This was just a small aspect of the approach but worth mentioning.

The true power of this approach is what I am writing about here and the most effective part of this approach. By using this creative undercover marketing approach and having the message seem unintentional, the message takes deeper root. When you think the idea to listen to their conversation was yours, you better value the message. You may even find yourself repeating the message. You may later say to a friend, “I heard that movie was cool”, or “I heard the ending was amazing”. There is a good chance you don’t even mention or recall where you heard this fact, but you did. If this had been a radio ad or web ad, you would never repeat it. You just made this viral because you trusted the source. You trusted the source because you thought it to be a candid and honest conversation.

Would you have thought of this type of approach or calculated how its effect could go viral, due to the source being trusted over traditional advertising methods? All this leads back to why you need a creative and inventive approach to marketing. Working for CGR Creative, I have been exposed to many professionals with diverse backgrounds and real hands-on experience in trying what works and learning what doesn’t on our own time. You can be sure that you will be presented with ideas and approaches you would never have thought of. The marketing ideas you are handed will be tested and have a plan as to why they will outperform the traditional methods your competition is using.

My personal background is in SEO and online marketing. I didn’t attend a seminar or a 2 day course, I spent 9 years building websites for affiliate programs, ranking sites that depended on ranking to make an income stream. I spent 9 years needing to be successful to eat and pay the bills. I was constantly under fire to produce creative approaches to selling traditional products.

Now working with the staff at CGR with award winning graphic designers and community leaders in social and business circles, I am part of a team of like-minded, outside-the-box producers. CGR is a design team focusing on many fields and many different cultural target consumers. CGR's experience with their customers has led to one-of-a-kind creative marketing approaches for each and every project we undertake. A client needs a new approach to their marketing to accompany the traditional methods they expect. Use our graphic, print, media, and online approaches but, at the same time, let us bring your social and online PR presence up to modern standards with ideas your competition has never thought of.

Review Sites Creating A Problem

The good news is that review websites have provided a forum for customers and businesses to exchange and discuss their sales history working together. The bad news is that the intended use for review websites has completely failed. Review websites, like Google reviews, Yahoo, Yelp, YP, Mechantcircle, Superpages, YP, and others, may have had good intentions but have created a mess for small business.

I am certain the true intention of these review pages was the bottom lines of the sites that host them. If you can create an excuse to have a separate page for every single business on earth, you have just justified 1 billion new ads displaying revenue-generating pages for the review sites.

It may be argued that this is a win-win situation, since the reviews sites, like Yelp.com and YP, get to make huge gains in pages to display ads while businesses get free publicity. This would be nice if it was true.

The review sites have turned into a free for all of fake positive reviews and malicious competition targeting bad reviews. Here in Charlotte, we can easily point out examples of local businesses and services that spend hours every week attacking their competition with negative reviews. These review sites require nothing other than an email account to allow you to post high-ranking, anonymous attacks on your competition. The review sites themselves have no vested interest or financial connection to the validity of the reviews. Ad-displaying pages make the same revenue for these sites with accurate or fake reviews; there is no motivation for these sites to try and insure integrity.

The down side is that the only way this sort of phenomenon resolves itself is through becoming obsolete. Until these sites see less users counting on them and the revenue impacted, they will not change policies to protect businesses. Until that time comes, many of these have become an easily accessible medium for slandering competition and misleading customers. ME

Online PR Company Approach

So what do you mean when you say online PR?

Had the pleasure of meeting one of new clients last night at the 2012 Vision Award in Charlotte put on by the Center City Partners, and the title above is a question I got.

What exactly is online public relations and what do you do for me?

If you know me you know I absolutely love SEO, Marketing, selling online and watching SERPS and the trends online. I am very analytical and would really do this for free or on my day off.

I answered this with a lot of overlap from Defensive SEO and strong dash of social media.

“Public relations” is defined as the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by an organization or a famous person. PR is the state of the relationship between the public and a company or other organization or a famous person.

Online we must often be reactive in a practice sort of way. We do not always get to “wag the dog” when dealing with the world of searchable content. Very often a customer will search for what they want when they want to. In other forms of PR and marketing people like me take pride in telling people what they want and doing it in a way where they don’t know why they wanted it.

Does anyone really remember what was so great about Cabbage Patch kids or Teddy Ruxpin?

Now we can track customers and searchers to within a micrometer of what they are thinking and this is almost as good as telling them what they want. With Google analytics and other social media tracking tools like Pagelever allow us to know what works and doesn’t work in real time.

Still in this situation we don’t know when the trend will change until it does. The solution to this is often preparing ahead of time with defensive SEO, a tsunami of online press and covering every page a person may find in conjunction with a clients name.

We want to do all of the basic things like create a great Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, Linkedin presence of course. We want to make all of those pages tempting to join with motivational calls to action for any visitor. Our thinking here is that when we do all this work to get a searcher to your page we don’t want them leaving empty handed.

I want your social media presence to be like the candy in the checkout aisle. Who can say no to “free newsletter, EBooks and updates only takes one click on my LIKE BUTTON?”

Not really PR, but the residual PR you get from having an active relationship with thousands of fans and followers is he most effective part. When someone sees you r message on your wall it means only so much, but when they se your message on their best friends wall who is your follower….means much more.

Searchers are not on Facebook searching though; they are on Google, Bing or Yahoo. And when they enter you name what do they see? The searchers can often end a search for your service on just the snippets Google provides. If I search for CGR Creative where I work as Online Marketing Director I see nothing but the great things we do for our community. I see Press releases covering our activity in the community and I see rave reviews from valued clients past.

In a past article I point out how over 80% of searchers do not go past page one in their searches, but that doesn’t apply to reputation defense when I do it.

If I am searching for a web design firm in Charlotte I likely won’t go past page one if I am a casual searcher. But now I have picked CGR for example and am considering the phone call tomorrow to them. My next step is to search them specifically and in this scenario most searchers will go 2,3 or 4 pages deep. Searchers curious about your business reputation are not looking for top 10 or the Google chosen “best”, they are looking for the bad news. Searchers looking for bad news tend to go much deeper into the results.

When’s the last time you search some old friend or enemy just for fun? How many pages deep did you go? Enough said.

Now go search CGR Creative Charlotte and go back to page 4, this is what I can do for clients.

We make sure you have a good reputation online which gets you a much higher conversion rate on raw leads who are kicking tires online. You have spent so much time building your name up with positive public relations; one single bad piece of news that is accessible to the world on Google 24/7 will lose all that faith in your next perspective client.

We build content and press for you through 40+ Press websites, cover all review websites including industry specific ones and local search results, respond to anything negative and work to minimize or remove it. We will make sure you perspective clients hear nothing but positive things and build faith in your business that they will turn around and pass on to their friend with confidence. Word of mouth and what people see what their own eyes is very effective in selling your brand long term.

Todd Kron
Online Marketing Director
CGR Creative Design - Charlotte, NC

Site Structure Must Be Step One

I have seen many sites lately that lack direction. Websites that are not built with proper on-page SEO generally are the king of mediocre. In this I mean the sites have a lot of information and content but lack a format that breaks it into topical pages and sections.

These sites generally are established businesses with sites that possess a good amount of link juice and natural reputation in Google’s eyes, but at the same time haven’t given Google what it needs on each page to rank top 10. You can count on good content and good links to your site to get you to the top, or you can make the changes to maximize that chance. It’s just common sense that if you have a person search “What’s new in blue widgets?”, even the #1 blue widget site online may be at page 3 if 20 other sites have addressed this topic specifically.

So you are selling Blue Widgets in Atlanta.

·Are you writing about them on every page? (Too many?)

·Did you take your top 10 keyword list and make sure each one has a page specifically addressing it?

·Did you do the obvious, like make sure your heading and title tags line up with each page’s intended keyword?

·Did you pick a target page to represent each variation of  keyword specifically?

·Does your homepage identify your target regions?

·Did you include other commonly searched usages, like “How much are blue widgets"?

·Did you include comparison phrasings, like “Why Blue Widgets are better than Red Widgets”?

·Did you include pages to target your competitions customer base, (Blue Widgets Jacksonville?) without diluting your own website’s region?

·Did you build a social following and social footprint for your website with RSS feeds and account?

·Did you make sure to section your site off by region you serve so you can build links to each section with the proper city name keywords?

·Did you make sure to move your best converting keywords to the homepage where they have the most juice?

·Did you eliminate links that have useless terms in the ALT tags or anchor text, like “click here” and “learn more”?

·Did you eliminate repetitive sidebar content, like feeds and welcome messages that appear on every page and reduce the originality of every page?

·Did you utilize a Q/A section so you can rank on page one for people typing product questions?

If you don’t have all of these thoughts in mind when you first lay your site out, you may be playing from behind for the next 10 years to the guys who did.

This list is about half complete of the checklist a site designed by CGR Creative will keep in mind for your project. If a single sale pays our cost as Charlotte SEO’s for your business, and you are confident you can convert the leads you receive from being on page one. This is a no-brainer to pursue for your business.

Todd Kron
Online Marketing Director
CGR Creative

SEO -Too Fast or Too Slow?

It's always a challenge getting top placement on Google.  Many like to think their sites magically make it to page one without any hard work.  There is a secret sauce we like to use for our clients in order to get them page 1 ranked.  Typically we provide a competitive keyword analysis to get you started, and let you know which keywords you should be targeting for your business.  Then we do our thing and Voila! Your site will start to make its way up the ranks.  Part of the success is attributed to the hundreds of SEO tools offered online.  It's definitely finding the right combination of tools and implementation to make things happen.

Let's be real, how long should you expect until you start to see results and moving up the ranks? Depending on how competitive your keywords are will determine how much work needs to go into the back-end.  Sometimes you can go from page 2 to page 1 in Google in a few short weeks; sometimes it's days.  If you are targeting a bunch of highly competitive keywords, it might take a few months before strategy lends itself to Rockstar placement.

Also pay attention to your sitemap; as you make updates to your site, your sitemap will change, and it's important to update it with Google.  There are a plethora of Google webmaster tools to aid in getting things done when it comes to sitemaps, blogs, tracking, and more. When designing a new website, you must implement SEO tactics from the get-go. Don't wait because it's that much harder when you have to implement after you launch.  The web design is everything as long as it's SEO friendly.

If you are employing all possible SEO efforts and you don't see any viable results, it might be time to contact a professional.  SEO is more than fixing some onsite metadata.  Keep that in mind and know that the value of good placement means everything as new visitors to your site equate to conversions.

Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative Launches Mobile App for Android Phones

April 15, 2010 Charlotte NC – CGR Creative recently launched an Android based mobile app so their customers can stay on top of the advertising agency’s latest news. CGR Creative’s Android app streams all their social media channels directly to one feed. This incorporates CGR’s award winning blog, their twitter feed, links and updates from their facebook fan page, and even their tumblr mini blog. CGR is offering this free application to Android phone users immediately with an iPhone version to be released in the next few months.

CGR Creative believes Charlotte, North Carolina is a prime location for mobile application development because of the growing tech economy it’s top twenty-three media market rating. CGR Creative is poised to take advantage of the fact that every major US city is within an 800 mile radius of Charlotte, North Carolina.

More and more mobile phone owners are using their phones in novel ways. They are searching the Internet and consuming content at a constantly increasing rate. This adds to the perfect storm of mobile development that CGR Creative predicts will hit the Charlotte Market in the next five years.

About CGR Creative: Charlotte based CGR Creative is a full service advertising agency, marketing firm, design studio, and interactive marketing agency. CGR Creative prides itself on supporting their customers in a way that larger agencies can’t, often times committing all their resources to ensure the success of their client’s projects. CGR Creative’s fundamental belief is that the client’s success is their success. The agency, with an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fully bi-lingual, with a Latino marketing division that offers a variety of marketing channels that are specifically targeted to reach the Hispanic market.

For more info on CGR Creative visit http://www.cgrcreative.com 

Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative Featured at Working Charlotte’s Business Prosperity Conference

Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative was featured at Working Charlotte’s Business Prosperity Conference Saturday

Charlotte, North Carolina - Julio Colmenares, Chief Creative Officer of Advertising Agency CGR Creative, LLC, spoke about New Media at Working Charlotte’s Business Prosperity Conference on Saturday, April 10, 2010. Charlotte Advertising agency CGR Creative has been a supporter of small business in Charlotte since it's founding in 2002. The Working Charlotte Business Prosperity Conference 2010 was a great way for CGR to give new media advice to small and medium sized business owners seeking to boldly unlock the "know-how" and the "how-to" of doing business in Charlotte.

Julio began his presentation by explaining that, "What ‘new media’ means changes rapidly so the question becomes, “how can I keep current without going crazy or bankrupt?” The answer is simple, “Jump In!” Learning to swim requires that you get in the pool. You can research, compare, look to your competitor, etc. but eventually you must get wet."

Julio also provided these 7 pieces of advice for attendees to take away from his presentation:

NEW MEDIA: Sink or Swim!

Enjoy the Water: Don't try to be everything to everyone. No product or service will appeal to everyone. Many business owners, including corporate executives, try to come up with ways to reach every market. Typically, this does not work. It can spell disaster for small businesses, who cannot afford to spread themselves too thin. Therefore, find your market and be everything you can be to that audience.

Swim with a Strong Buddy: New Media is one area where people try to tell the professionals what to do and how to do it. You wouldn’t tell a doctor what treatment to prescribe, just like you wouldn’t tell your lawyer how to defend you. Companies can lose a lot of time and money while trying to act as their own ad agency. Agencies are experts. They charge for their time and experience and have one goal in mind: To get the best results for their clients in order to keep those clients.

Beware of Rip Tides: Many companies offer quick fixes for little investment. These are often a simple "Buy your Rankings" package which can work for a short time and leave you stranded in deep water after the initial investment is gone. Work toward developing a consistent managed strategy that will work for the long term.


Know How Deep the Water is: Make your new media decisions based upon research and a formal marketing plan rather than a predetermined target budget. New media is often less expensive than traditional channels but you still get what you pay for.

Constantly Work on Your Stroke: Monitor your new media performance! You need to find out what works best for you. After you find this out, you’ll want to stay the course. Keep track of how SEO efforts and keyword campaigns not only how they drive traffic to your business but at what rate they actually produce sales. Consider testing each new media channel before deciding on which to explore more fully.

Have a Lifeguard: You should always have a professional that you can rely on for no nonsense feedback and creative ideas for all your new media campaigns. Preferably this is someone with a vantage point with which to measure your efforts and who can point you in the right direction.

Pay Attention to the Other Swimmers: Put your new media dollars in the right places. Your favorite website, social media outlet, blog, or even search engine might not be a favorite of your audience. Know what they read, peruse, and where they get their info, and advertise in the new media channel that reaches your target market.Julio Colmenares, Chief Creative Officer, CGR Creative, LLC - Description: Explore "New Media" (Websites, Search Engines and Social Media) and how to stay current without going crazy or bankrupt. Learn how to leverage technology to build awareness of your company.

About CGR Creative: Charlotte based CGR Creative is a full service advertising agency, marketing firm, design studio, and interactive marketing agency. CGR Creative prides itself on supporting their customers in a way that larger agencies can’t, often times committing all their resources to ensure the success of their client’s projects. CGR Creative’s fundamental belief is that the client’s success is their success. The agency, with an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fully bi-lingual, with a Latino marketing division that offers a variety of marketing channels that are specifically targeted to reach the Hispanic market.

For more info on CGR Creative visit http://www.cgrcreative.com

Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative Helps Promote North Carolina Charity

Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative recently completed a brand image overhaul for Statesville based Purple Heart Homes. The charity was founded by Dale Beatty and John Gallina, two former Soldiers injured in the line of duty. Charlotte Advertising Agency CGR Creative helped create a new modern brand image for the charity including their logo, supporting graphics, business cards, brochures, and other collateral. CGR Creative is known for their cutting edge graphics and their ability to develop and manage memorable brands. As an Advertising Agency, CGR Creative takes pride in being Charlotte, North Carolina's Agency of choice among new businesses.

Jason Ramsey, CGR Creative's Creative Director said, "Work like CGR Creative's brand management for Purple Heart Homes is what every Charlotte Advertising Agency should be doing more of." He went on to explain, "They [PHH] had a clear idea of what their goals were and they let us develop the brand image that would deliver on those goals."

About Purple Heart Homes: Purple Heart Homes wants to help other service connected disabled veterans achieve the quality of life they deserve. PHH is committed to helping Veterans with a variety of injuries regardless of when they served. Full construction of a new home will generally be reserved for recent medical retirees without an established home, who have a need for new housing after medical retirement. Smaller projects such as improving accessibility within existing homes can be completed for qualified Veterans regardless of when they served.

How you can help: PHH is not a construction company, but instead they are a Public Charity that seeks ways to pool community resources for our candidates. Our ultimate goal is for the communities where our Veterans reside to accept a role of ownership in the projects we undertake. This gives Americans a chance to show their appreciation for local Veterans, thru donations, labor, and by participating in projects that reward the volunteers as well as the recipient. 

We are currently focusing our efforts in the North Carolina region. To join us in our mission, or to find out more about how you can help, or to apply for assistance, please visit us at www.phhnc.org 

About CGR Creative: CGR Creative is a Charlotte advertising agency, marketing firm, design studio, and interactive marketing company. CGR Creative prides itself on supporting their customers in a way that larger agencies can’t, often times committing all their resources to ensure the success of their client’s projects. CGR Creative’s fundamental belief is that the client’s success is their success. The agency, with an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fully bi-lingual, with a Latino marketing division that offers a variety of marketing channels that are specifically targeted to reach the Hispanic market.

Julio Colmenares to Speak at Charlotte’s Business Prosperity Conference

April 7, 2010 - Charlotte, North Carolina - Julio Colmenares, Chief Creative Officer of CGR Creative, LLC, will be speaking at Charlotte’s Business Prosperity Conference on Saturday, April 10, 2010. The Charlotte Business Prosperity Conference 2010 is a one-day experience for small and medium sized business owners seeking to boldly unlock the "know-how" and the "how-to" of doing business in Charlotte. The "Business Prosperity" theme is appropriate as Charlotte business owners, entrepreneurial-minded professionals, and their employees will access strategies, skills, resources, and connections to prosperity, productivity, and power. The entire conference will be focused on removing barriers to business by empowering attendees to drive revenue and control expenses.

Breakout Session #3 - NEW MEDIA: SINK OR SWIM

Presenter: Julio Colmenares, Chief Creative Officer, CGR Creative, LLC - Description: Explore "New Media" (Websites, Search Engines and Social Media) and how to stay current without going crazy or bankrupt. Learn how to leverage technology to build awareness of your company.

The Conference will be provided in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese!

DATE:  Saturday, April 10, 2010
TIME:  8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
LOCATION:  UNC - Charlotte
REGISTRATION FEE:  $99
College of Health and Human Services Building
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28223


About CGR Creative: CGR Creative is a full service marketing, design, advertising, and interactive marketing agency. CGR Creative prides itself on supporting their customers in a way that larger agencies can’t, often times committing all their resources to ensure the success of their client’s projects. CGR Creative’s fundamental belief is that the client’s success is their success. The agency, with an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fully bi-lingual, with a Latino marketing division that offers a variety of marketing channels that are specifically targeted to reach the Hispanic market.

Need a Reason to do Search Engine Marketing?

Need a Reason to do Search Engine Marketing? We'll Give You 10!

1 Targeting: Search engines allow you to market to people who are already interested enough in your products and services to get online and type in key words related to your product or service. These people are far more likely to seek you out and are much more likely to buy from you than some random individual who hears about your company. Unlike most traditional forms of marketing, they are looking for you!

2 Timing: Search engines allow you to market your product or service to searchers at the time they are interested, even 2 a.m. on Christmas morning, or while they are at work. What other form of marketing allows you to give them what they want, whenever they want it?

3 Visibility: Search engines allow consumers and businesses to find you easily. Even obscure and hard to define products and services are easy to find via search engines.

4 Measurable Results: Everything in Search Engine Marketing can be tracked, including what site a visitor came from, what keyword they typed to find you, how long they spent on your site, which pages they visited, etc…. Everything.

5 Trust & Reputation: Consumers have learned to trust the companies at the top of Google as being the most reputable and trusted sources in their niche.

For 6-10 visit our website here.

CGR Creative is certified as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB)

CGR Creative was awarded HUB certification this week meaning they are now qualified as a Historically Underutilized Business. Julio Colmenares, Partner and Chief Creative Officer of CGR, was excited that the HUB certification process was completed. Julio said, "I am glad that we can now offer an extra benefit to our clients, many companies out there are looking to partner with HUB Firms and I am happy we bring that added value to our clients." Julio went on to explain that, "this really doesn't change anything here at CGR. We have always been focused on providing top quality results with phenomenal service, and that remains our mission."

CGR's HUB vendor information can be found here.

According to Bridget Wall-Lennon, Director Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses, in her post titled "HUB OFFICE PREPARES FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES," North Carolina business owners were understandably optimistic when they heard the state would receive $6.1 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) is working to ensure that minority-, women-, disabled- and disadvantage-owned businesses will enjoy an equal opportunity to participate in providing state government with the goods and services it requires. 

To help level the playing field, Governor Perdue recently signed Executive Order 13, which tasks the HUB Office with assisting certified HUB firms in identifying and obtaining ARRA contract opportunities. As with all state government contracts, the aspirational goal for goods and services is 10 percent (by dollar amount) of purchasing to be derived from HUB firms. 

For more from Ms. Wall-Lennon visit this link.

About CGR Creative
CGR Creative is a full service marketing, design, advertising, and interactive marketing agency. CGR Creative prides itself on supporting their customers in a way that larger agencies can’t, often times committing all their resources to ensure the success of their client’s projects. CGR Creative’s fundamental belief is that the client’s success is their success. The agency, with an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fully bi­lingual, with a Latino marketing division that offers a variety of marketing channels that are specifically targeted to reach the Hispanic market. 


www.facebook.com/cgrcreative  -  www.twitter.com/cgrcreative  -  http://www.cgrcreative.blogspot.com/

CGR Partners with LiveWell Homes

CGR Creative recently partnered with LiveWell Homes on a print campaign centered around a presentation folder and collateral describing their philosophy of high quality features, modern materials, eco friendly products, and amazing upgrades as STANDARD on all their homes. This is the type of company we get excited to work with! CGR was also responsible for the branding video that is the centerpiece of their website.

Other work includes: Collateral, Infographics, Sub Plans, & Multimedia.

Marand "Rebrand"

One of CGR's long-term CLIENTS & FRIENDS Marand Builders came to us for a corporate identity overhaul. CGR’s task is to maintain the original essence of their established brand while giving it an updated aesthetic with a unique cosmetic twist.

Some of the work includes: Website Design and Program Development; Brand; RFP Presentations; Signage, Search Engine Optimization (SEO); Collateral.

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