February 5, 2012

Things Aren’t Always What They Seem …

Great viral video of things not always being what they seem.

Click “creative” to see what I mean…

creative

Let me know what you think, Tim

Social Media

Social Media is all about community and like-interests finding each other online. RavenWood Creative can help you find your place in all the social media environments available.

So if you’re struggling to figure out how your business should use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social networking tool, contact us, and we’ll get to work on a social media communication plan.

    Web Design

    image_home_150The Web. Whether it’s a web site redesign or a build from the ground up, RavenWood Creative can help you put the pieces together for your business. We’re experts at integrating social media, blogs, and graphics into a professional and solid web presence. We use the latest tools and web standards to either build a CSS/HTML site from the ground up, redesign an existing site or convert your static website to a WordPress blog-based site that the client can update themselves. As an Accredited Business Communicator – RavenWood Creative can even help with the site’s content.

    Graphic Design

    image_graphicdesign_150Graphic Design. It’s where we shine, we combine compelling, tightly written words with the right visual element without having to jump back and forth between separate designers and writers.

    First impressions – everyone knows they’re important, your customers are making up their minds when they look at your logo – is this the kind of organization I want to do business with? Let us create a professional and powerful first impression for your organization.

    • logos
    • publications
    • web images

    Writing & Editing

    image_writingWriting. Gone are the days of dry, stuffy, lengthy corporate communication – quick and to the point is the trend. It’s what we call communication redefined. And that’s RavenWood Creative’s style – so before you pick up your pen give us a call.

    newsletters – press releases – communication and crisis plans – white papers – articles

    RavenWood Creative’s president, Tim Ernst, ABC is an accredited business communicator – what’s that you say? Click here to find out more information or give us a call, Tim would be more than happy to explain.

    image_editing_150Editing. Knowing what you want to write is one thing. Getting to the point and keeping comprehension high is another. That’s why editing is so important. Let RavenWood Creative become a constructively critical, objective point-of-view for your publicationís approval process. Our digital pencils and erasers are standing by.

    A Sad Day

    I don’t feel much like working today. My constant companion, office mate and friend is gone. On April 4th, my wife and I made the heart-wrenching decision to put down our 12-year-old, Neapolitan Mastiff, Cosmo. She was very sick and at her advanced age we didn’t want to prolong her suffering. Despite her male-sounding name, Cosmo was in fact a female and was named before we rescued her from the Montgomery County, PA SPCA. She was four at the time when we brought her home in 2001.

    Cosmo

    Cosmo

    She had a hard first four years of life, the vet thinks she was bred too much, and lucky for us was surrendered to the SPCA during a not very active time, as she had stayed at the SPCA for several months before we found her.  She was under weight but always willing to eat and she soon flourished in our home. She became a constant in our home, and when I started my business was my office mate day in and day out, taking her spot on the couch in the office to “work” hard at sleeping and nudging me to be petted when I started talking on the phone.

    Cosmo hard at work

    Cosmo hard at work

    Today, she’s gone. I will miss my office mate, our other dog, Ally the Bloodhound goes to doggie daycare three times a week, so I’ll have her keeping me company a few times a week, but there’s an energy missing from our home and office now. I’m sure eventually life will intrude again, we’ll get busy, and we’ll continue to remember and miss Cosmo lovingly, and it won’t hurt as much as it does today. Dogs have a fantastic way of making all of us slow down in life and take time to enjoy it. Often it’s just the wag of a tail or the look in their eyes that help us do that. I encourage anyone out there looking to get a dog, to please check your local rescue or SPCA and help a dog out. I know in my heart that Cosmo was eternally grateful for what we did for her and she became a part of our family, the ultimate protector of our home, my wife and the neighborhood as we went on our daily walks, and she was our friend.

    Goodbye Cosmo.

    Social Media Marketing More Tools in the Box

    I was flipping through Twitter today and one of my followers @BethHarte retweeted a blog entry from Susan Etlinger of Brass Tacks. The point of her blog was a recap of Why Social Media Marketing Fails (and How to Fix It) at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. Her recap of why companies need to integrate social media into company cultures, what can be marketed (Can anything be effectively marketed within social media?) And what should be measured and what should it be measured against. Each day I read about company trying to do all of these things or shall I say reacting to how its employees or customers are using social media.

    This blog is full of examples of what companies are doing with social media but when it all comes down to it…

    It was a great recap, and I thank Susan for sharing it. I think a lot of people get caught up in the mania of social media and think of it as a cure all, but social media networks, communities, users, and applications are just tools like the fax machine and email before them. Once we all (i. e. marketers and communicators) learn to integrate these tools into marketing plans, customer service plans, etc. we’ll all be onto the next latest and greatest tool. But in the meantime, how we use the tools we have to promote our companies and its products is the fun part.

    Until next time, Tim