PlattForm Life and Times

Designers like myself sometimes need inspiration. There are books and sites dedicated to providing designers with inspiration (usually in the form of other design). But I’ve found a better source: Colour Lovers. It’s an online community of people who just love color. They love discussing it, admiring it, and matching it with other colors. The discussions are both interesting and informative (scroll to the bottom of the homepage for blog posts), but the matching that’s the real beauty in that site. Color palettes. Thousands of them, all chosen by creative individuals with an eye for design.

The palettes are given keywords to describe them, and the keywords are searchable on the site. So if I’m looking for a set of vintage colors, or a palette that evokes citrus or autumn, they’re easy to find. Users also rank the palettes, so you can browse through the palettes that the users of the site liked the best. Just browsing through the first few pages, here are a few good combinations I found:

Giant Goldfish
London Bus
Trip Through Clouds
Choc Mint
Sugar Bamboo

Colour Lovers also has an option to search for a color range. So you can narrow the color range to, say, shades of crimson and find all palettes that contain at least one color in that range. This is great if you’re trying to find colors to match a logo or a picture, or if you’re trying to find a color to paint the walls of your house to match your furniture.

I this method over looking at other websites because it’s a much more raw source of inspiration. There’s no fretting about copying a design, or needing to change it enough so it’s not just an imitation of the inspiration. Certain combinations of colors evoke certain feelings, but it’s still up to the designer to interpret those feelings and present them properly.

I just spent Monday meeting up-and-coming advertising/marketing graduates from various colleges around the Midwest.   I quickly noticed two things.  1) Good Lord, I’m old.  And 2) Man, do some of these kids have a fire in their belly!  They are a heckuva lot more aggressive and interview-savvy than I was at age 20-something.

The Kansas City Ad Club (which is one of the largest in the nation, I kid you not) sponsored the day-long event.  I got partnered up with muckety-mucks from other, bigger agencies who touted their wares ENDLESSLY.   Many agencies made it abundantly clear to the students/grads they didn’t hire anyone straight out of college.  Period.  So imagine how popular I was when I mentioned that not only do we hire college grads – we groom them to be superstars.  Talk about an ace up my sleeve!

I’ll be the first to admit … I like meeting with college students and looking at portfolios.  They bring a lot of goofy enthusiasm and energy to the table.  No wonder PlattForm hires a majority of their employees right outta college.  And no wonder this place is always so full of life.

What surprised me at the conference were all the different areas students specialize in nowadays.  I used to think I was a triple threat … I could write, produce and direct.  Now, apparently, I need to write, produce, direct, edit, shoot and design … looking urban AND trendy and sporting serious bed head.  Stupid kids and their stupid youth.

The resumes have been POURING in this week.  Each a little more dazzling than the last.  And don’t even get me started on all the phone calls.  Each a little more hyperactive than the last.  (Why do college kids talk so fast anyway?  Don’t they know us old people are hard of hearing?)

Hopefully, I dazzled these kids with my positive portrayal of PlattForm.  I basically had no choice.  No one in the room had ever heard of us.  That’s the problem with being KC’s hidden gem of an agency.  But I talked a lot about the perks of this place … in lingo only a 22-year old could appreciate.  It went a little something like this …

“And, dude, seriously, for realz, you can wear flip-flops in the house.  And everyone is in their 20’s.  Except for me.  And I just turned 30, yo.  (HUGE LIE.)   And they pay for all your health and dental insurance … yes, all of it.  No, dude – no money comes out of your pocket.  And we’ve got a game room with a Family Guy pinball machine.  I know!  Get out, right!?”

But, honestly, want to know what really sold these kids?  The fact that PlattForm gets out and about in the community to work our magic.  Today’s graduate is a lot more civic-minded.  They all genuinely seemed to perk up when I mentioned our in-house philanthropic committee, “Team Phil.”

So to everyone I saw/met with/fist-bumped at Career Day … I wish you luck on your job search.  You were all sparkly, fresh-faced ingénues who are gonna go far.  And, no, it’s not too late to send me your resume … (michaelm@plattformad.com) … but, remember, you’ve got some competition out there.

First off, let me begin by explaining that geo-targeting, or local targeting, consists of enhancing your search engine results to only display sites in a particular state, city, area, etc.

For example, if you’re looking for a massage therapy school in Kansas City, you might begin your search by entering the keyterm phrase, “massage therapy schools.”  However, your search engine results probably would not show results in Kansas City within the first few pages, if at all, because your search is not specific enough.  But, if you search for “massage therapy schools in kansas city,” you will find what you are looking for.

In SEO, when I perform keyterm research for my clients, I geo-target keyterm phrases by adding specific geographic locations, such as city names, to my phrases, so that searchers in that particular area can find the schools, and find them on the first or second page.

I recently took on an SEO client that’s a beauty school in Ludlow, Massachusetts.  Where is Ludlow? It’s in Southern Massachusetts, about 90 miles southwest of Boston, or a more specific geo-target, about 12 miles northeast of Springfield.  Ludlow is considered part of the Springfield metro area, just like Lenexa is part of the Kansas City metro area.

Why is this geography lesson relevant? Well, Springfield has about seven times the population of Ludlow.  A person looking to find a beauty school in the Springfield metro area probably won’t enter the keyterm phrase, “beauty schools in ludlow,” especially if they are not in Ludlow. They are more likely to search for “beauty schools in springfield” or geo-target their search even more by searching for “beauty school in springfield massachusetts,” because of the number of states that have a Springfield.
Geo-targeting on this local of a level will draw more qualified visitors to my site, because they are seeking out that school in that specified geographic region.

On a personal, local level, when I did a search for “paddy o’quigleys in kansas city,” I received search results for the Leawood location, in addition to the North Kansas City one.  This location worked better for me, since I live in Overland Park.

Geo-targeting locally helps visitors find my site quickly and easily, even if they are not in Ludlow, MA – or Lenexa, KS.

I have a freakish and completely irrational fear of horses.   It’s called equinophobia … and, believe me, it’s caused relentless teasing by my family and co-workers.  It’s also caused me to have quite a few unforgettable moments.

Like the time I was sightseeing in NY and my cab pulled alongside one of those Cinderella carriages outside Central Park.  Not only did I scream like a 12-year old girl, I leapt out of said moving cab into oncoming traffic.  (At the time, getting mowed down by a transit bus seemed a better alternative than being trampled to death by a horse with glitter on its mane.)

When I talk to students who have graduated from career colleges, I ask them two things.  The first thing I ask is — were they glad they went back to school?  And the second –   were they initially scared to go back to school?

99.259725% of students respond yes to both.

Many students traipse in to their first day of class with low self-esteem.  They are unsteady and unsure of themselves.  Many desperately crave approval and the chance to prove themselves.  One woman I spoke to recently likened herself to a light bulb. Before she had to the internal fortitude to go back to school, her light had nearly been snuffed out.  Her light was dull and only occasionally flickered.  Once she started going to school, she felt instantly brighter and alive.  And, more importantly, there was an “electric energy” at the school.  Everyone wanted to do better for themselves and/or their family.  And that energy was palpable.

Even though I desperately wanted to mention that she just had a “light bulb moment”, I didn’t want to interrupt.  (Thank you, Oprah!)  But I did ask her if she was scared to go back to school.  Turns out she had quit school not once, but twice before.  No wonder she was gun shy – she had literally pulled the plug on herself.

But here she was … ready to graduate in a few weeks.  She was excited.  Borderline giddy even.  From the administrators to the instructors, everyone at that school was responsible for helping her flip the switch from OFF to ON again.  Dare I say, someone gave her the POWER to succeed?  (Cliché’ I know … but I’m on a roll.)

Next time you talk to a student, find out what their hopes AND fears are.  One of them is always going to win over the other … it’s your job to make sure it’s the right one.

And for the record … don’t ask me why I’m afraid of horses either.  Like I said – it’s completely irrational.  My friends think I’m just being a jackass.  Needless to say, I told them to immediately find another name to call me.

Facebook, Myspace…Most of us have heard of these websites at some point. What these sites, and others, have in common is that they are used for social networking.

With social networking websites, users can create a profile that allows them to connect and interact with friends, family, colleagues and others with similar interests. Through these websites, users can share pictures, post videos and send messages to one another.

Social networking websites have become beneficial for companies in marketing their websites.  Companies can create profiles and market their brand or product on social networking sites, utilizing them in much the same way that users do.

Myspace has been a great marketing tool for musicians, allowing them to promote their music.  In much the same way, at PlattForm has created Myspace profiles for our educational clients. We seek out friends by searching Myspace for current students and alumni and request their friendship. We post pictures of the school, students, classrooms, etc.  We can post blogs, messages, news, and communicates with our friends, and keep them up to date with the school, all through the Myspace profile.

Facebook works in a similar manner. PlattForm can create profiles for our clients; however, instead of the typical Facebook profile that asks users to fill out their favorite movies and books, we create business pages.  These pages contain information that’s more relevant to a business, such as hours, parking and location.  Also, instead of having friends, the page has fans, which can be reached out to.  Fans on Facebook are sought out in the same manner as Myspace, searching for current students and alumni, inviting them to become fans.

The obvious website marketing benefit in utilizing social networking is the links we place on the profiles that link back to clients’ websites. Other benefits take more effort, but are equally valuable in the long run.  For our clients that have blogs, we can import them into their profiles. Each time a new blog is posted, it will show up on their user profile, allowing friends and fans to read the post.  We have also utilized these profiles to post pictures, videos, news and events, all of which can be shared with friends and fans, who can post comments, on these items allowing interaction on the profile.

Social networking has been a great way for PlattForm to help our clients communicate with students and alumni.  Once connections have been made, we ensure that we keep up with our profiles, by posting blogs, pictures, and news regularly.  We constantly seek out friends and approve friend requests. Social networking profiles are yet another way to put the school name and brand out there a little more, and connect with those that matter most to our clients: friends, fans and students.