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We all have those moments in life and business where we just feel so down and out, that we just feel like giving up. Lately, there have been a few obstacles in my life that have pushed me in this direction. However, I just happened to take a look at Michel Fortin’s blog in my RSS reader and found this video. You will be challenged to NOT well up.

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I have always enjoyed Andy Warhol’s artwork – I can’t explain it other than the bold blocks of color, rich tapestries of American pop culture. I also love Keith Harring, who had a more political edge than Warhol. My generation now has it’s own artist, a rarity in my opinion. Shepard Fairey started his work just like Harring – creating images to say something about the world, pasting his work on the sides of buildings, on the sides of walk-signals, anywhere really. Most of Fairey’s work, if not all was based on negativity in the world. He’s been arrested for it many times, because, well…it’s against the law.

Now, his story has been flipped on it’s head, because his artwork was based on the hope, and change he saw in Barrack Obama.

Great video “pod-cumentry” on Current TV I saw today, is below. Pass it along. His work can be seen here.

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Many in the identity and graphic design, branding and marketing community have “voted” on the new Pepsi logo. Voted with their critique, that is. Many hate it, some even say it looks like a plumber’s rear. Why did Pepsi do it? It is one of the most recognized symbols in America, so why mess with a classic? Most importantly, what’s the goal and will it work?
Top Pepsi executives Indra Nooyi and Massimo d’Amore evidently demanded a “quantum leap” forward, to transform the brand into a cultural leader. In short, Frank Cooper, Pepsi’s VP-portfolio brands says this:

“We felt like, as we move out of this traditional mass marketing and mass distribution era into today’s culture, there’s an opportunity to bring humanity back, both in terms of the design but also in the way we engage consumers, – By making the logo more dynamic and more alive … [it is] absolutely a huge step in the right direction.”

Trouble is, you can change the logo all you want, but the product is what is purchased. No matter what you do, if that isn’t changed, the logo does nothing, nor does any marketing. See Microsoft and Vista. For Pepsi and Coke, what’s inside the can or bottle is what people choose. I dislike the Mountain Dew logo, always have – but the logo has not made me decide another soda should take its place.

That is Coke and Pepsi’s big issue in these modern times: the ingredients; namely High-Fructose Corn Syrup. (This issue itself is worthy of many pages of words, but today, I’m sticking to the topic at hand.) They say they are trying to be more competitive with the bottled water market. If this is the true meaning behind their new campaign, should they not address the health hazards and defects that it’s main sweetener has in store for it’s consumer?

Coke and Pepsi make soda in other countries with pure cane sugar. Why not in the USA? Because it is cheaper and easier to ship. Good for mass-production. If they really wanted to compete against the water industry, taking this chemical off the table would truely be… “absolutely a huge step in the right direction” no matter what you do with the logo.

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Some of us over at Biznik.com have been discussing the idea that print is dying. Jeff Fisher, a fellow designer, was among the respondents – and I noticed he posted the video below on Facebook.com It is a printing company’s version of Steve Delahoyde’s film “Regrets: Boxes” which can be seen here. And yes, I agree, print is not dying – it’s just changing with the times, morphing as we do with the speed of technology. Enjoy – and look for my lengthier post on this topic, coming soon.

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The clock is ticking and time is running out. The polls will be closing at the end of October for StartupNation’s Top 100 Home-Based Businesses!

What is StartUp Nation? Well, in their own words:

StartupNation is a free service founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. We created this site to be your one-stop shop for entrepreneurial success, and we’re thrilled that StartupNation has grown to be the leading online content and community resource for entrepreneurs.

So there you are – go check them out, and while you’re at it, vote for Whiplash Design! A side note: I can’t edit my category, but I wanted to be in most innovative, with my work I do for Non-Profits. Just so you’re aware.

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Social networking web sites are popping up all over the net these days. We’re part of one of the successful sites here on Biznik. However, my e-mail box gets flooded with invitations to this site or the next “big” thing. There are so many, and more cropping up every day – it can be hard know where to start and where to stop.

Community building is on fire right now in business, and it is one of the most effective marketing and branding strategies you can use. Blogs have been used to do this for many years. The business world jumped on board, recognizing the immediate dialogue with their customers, and its advantages to their brand. (If you don’t have one, I highly recommend you get one!) From blogs have come web sites that build community, on a larger scale. Most of you already know aboutFacebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, and of course, MySpace.

In my experience, Twitter is one that you should check out and seriously consider.

Why Twitter?

Twitter is “micro-blogging.” It is much like blogging and networking combined. People can “subscribe” to you and your “Tweets,” just as they would do on your blog with an RSS feed.* Unlike networking, Twitter opens the door to let your subscribers (followers) know in real time what you are up to, business or otherwise. It takes a blog one step further by letting you share relevant information: your new blog post, a networking event you’re going to attend, or newspaper article you are being featured in. Here’s the catch – you have only 140 characters to fill in your answer of, “What are you doing?”

How do you start using Twitter? Glad you asked! I’ve written a good springboard to get you started.

Pick Your Approach

The first thing to get out of the way is how you will approach Twitter. Just like a blog, you must first decide what your focus will be. Will you use it strictly for business? To build your database and audience? Or will it be for personal use? Maybe you’ll decide a mixture of both? For me, I went at it with a business approach. Eventually, I have mixed in some personal things. I don’t provide any intimate social details, just notes about where I am and the places I’m visiting. The advantage of mixing in a little personal will be explained throughout this article.

Start Following Others

As you sign up for a Twitter account, you will be asked to search for your friends and contacts. This is the easiest way to start to build your following. Most of your peers and friends will naturally want to follow you as well. As you find familiar faces, begin looking at whom they are following, and read their Tweets. This is a good way to follow people you actually are comfortable with or have something in common with (other than following the person that led you to them.) Use the Twitter search function to start following more people. I would search for keywords about your business, aspects of your field that you’d like to learn about or even a favorite product, magazine, or company. Zappos is a young but thriving company who encourages their employees to Twitter. If there’s a company you like, most likely they have a presence on Twitter.

One thing that I have been asked about is this: “How do I know who to follow? Some of the people I follow talk about what sandwich they’re eating! That’s not business related.”

Here’s how I explained it: Imagine that you’re Home-Land Security. Do you remember the secret listening in on the public’s private phone lines? Well, their explanation was that what they mainly do is listen but, most of it is just fluffy chatter. But – there are the times that crucial key bits of information come up. Odd example, but it is the best I could come up with. The “useless chatter” is just a human trait that we all have, and it happens. You determine if someone is worth following after a couple of weeks.

Create a Following (or audience)

I have about 72 Twitter followers right now that I can get to spread the word on a new article I just posted on Biznik or tutorial I want to announce. My followers come from all over, some come totally at random others are my peers or followers of my peers. Because I have an Apple blog, I Tweet about Apple and especially my experiences with my iPhone 3G. For the people I don’t know, maybe they did a search for iPhone and liked what I said in my Tweets. Maybe it was my business Tweets that got their attention. Who knows? Just like networking, you never know the how, who or when anyone will come to your Twitter-stoop.

What you won’t find in my Tweets is foul language, updates of where I am at a bar or downgrading people I see in public. It astounds me what some of my business colleagues Tweet. What if a client were to start following them? How would they mop up that kind of mess? You never know who will do a search on you, and they could be led to your Twitter page. My advice would be to keep within your business blog “voice”. Again, it is about your approach. If it’s business, keep it business like. Regardless, have fun!

Be the Expert

Twitter about your expertise, in a subtle, casual way. Example: “Here’s a link to the top 5 networking events in Portland, Oregon” or “Don’t get caught by business financial surprises! I just posted an article on how to prevent them here…” with a link to an article and maybe a sign-up form at the bottom for your newsletter or workshop. Remember, just like Oprah, you are talking to an audience of people – they like a hard sell just as much as you do. Too many, “Look at my site,” or “Buy my product now” Tweets will only get old and people will stop following.

Follow Experts in Your Field or a Field You Enjoy

I am a pure tech-head, and I have a passion for Apple products. To stay current with the latest in the tech world, I follow specific respected experts who have a solid and large following. I read their articles they post on Twitter, and after reading, I comment on them. You’d be surprised what kind of relationships you build through this aspect of Twitter. This includes colleagues and people in your network.

Enjoy the Many, Many Benefits

Twitter has so many benefits, it is hard to put them all here in this article. I’ll list a few that have impressed me:

1. Be prepared to be contacted by big companies if you Tweet about them! You’d be surprised the communication that Twitter opens up for you as a consumer and business person. Someone asked me via a Tweet about the battery pack I purchased for my 3G iPhone, and if I liked it. I replied, with the company’s name, and model number, but reported that it still had not shipped because I opted for the newest 3G version.

The company saw that in a search and replied to our Tweets! I now have an open dialogue with the company that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.

2. Get news around the county faster than any news network! I found out about the latest Oakland, California 4.0 earthquake mere seconds after it happened.

3. Get answers, get feedback, use it as your own focus group. I have had trouble being able to pull up a couple of client’s web sites for the last 6 months. What’s worse, it would usually happen when I was discussing the site with the client on the phone. Thanks to my Tweet about it, I received an answer and solution from a colleague on the East Coast.

4. Discover new people, blogs, news sources, commentary and web sites. I am alerted continually to new blogs or posts, web sites I probably would never run across, and political commentary I certainly wouldn’t have seen on T.V.

5. THIS is a great one – Follow people in areas that interest you. Again, I follow the Tech-Elite, and I am informed of the latest news, trends, and happenings at conferences, get links to videos, articles, and many extra valuable resources. It’s a little like pulling a thread on a sweater – you unravel some great information, and assets you can use to help you succeed.

One of my favorite finds is Linda Woods of Visual Chronicles. Linda and her sister Karen Dinino have published 2 books that are great: “Journal Revolution: Rise Up & Create! Art Journals, Personal Manifestos and Other Artistic Insurrections” and “Visual Chronicles: The No-Fear Guide to Creating Art Journals, Creative Manifestos and Altered Books” Both of them are inspiring, their life story is incredible and so, so creative. Linda has some pretty funny experiences in her daily life that I find amusing, inspiring and helpful.

There you have it my fellow indies! It is a whole brand spanking new world, whether you use it for personal or business (or both), you’ll find Twitter very useful and a valuable asset to your online marketing.

If you’d like to follow me, I’m at Twitter under the handleWhiplashDesign You can e-mail me or send me a message through my Biznik profile any time, I encourage feedback and questions.

*RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video in a standardized format.

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I’m writing an article that you’ll see here in the next few weeks about Stories and how they play a role in your branding. I recently had a great story created for me by Our House, an AIDS Hospice Non-profit I was doing some pro-bono work for.

As with most non-profits, they have very little “spare” money. I didn’t expect much from them in return for my work. I worked with the events director communicating by phone and e-mail up to this point, and there was a day when he wanted to meet in person at my office. To my surprise, he came with a gift in tow: a box of a dozen Saint Cupcake mini cupcakes.

Saint Cupcake is a bakery that opened here a couple of years ago, once the gourmet cupcake trend hit the West coast. Now – I’m a big design geek and a glutton for sugar so, their decision to make this gesture hit all sorts of right buttons within me. I have the photos posted here so you get the visual aspect of this.

Saint Cupcake does it’s branding right. Great logo, great service, the box for the to go orders is pretty close (here in Portland anyway) to the Tiffany box in recognition and wow… Emotional connections galore!

It brings back so many wondrous memories of childhood: The familiar colors of a retro local bakery that was a rare treat visit, scrumptious cupcakes we all loved as kids, but kicked up several notches for the adults to enjoy just as much as kids do. It’s like a Pixar movie, in a sense. they hit all the right notes.

The story? The non-profit is great to work with and I most certainly will do it again next year. That one small gesture sealed the deal even more solidly. Check out Our House and their Dinner Series, Dinner at My House for Our House, go visit and see how you can help. Our House has helped those with advanced HIV, provides room for 14 residents where they receive around the clock medical care, occupational therapy and also assists them to be healthy enough to be discharged.

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Last week, I moderated a panel discussion, “Harnessing the Power of Online Social Networks.” The panel included Jeff Fisher, author of Identity Crisis!, Susan Rich of Rich Writing Creative Services, Elgé Premeau, an eMarketing Strategist, and Adrienne Fritze of Working Artists, LLC.

The discussion was lively, and very informative, covering sites such as LinkedIn, Biznik, MySpace, Flicker, Naymz, and a smattering of others.

Each panel member picked a site that made a difference in their success, and each approached the discussion from a different point of view. Jeff, for example, chose to speak as an author of books, rather than as a designer. Surprisingly, Jeff said that MySpace was pretty successful for him. “Huh?,” you might say. Well, he takes a different approach than what you’d normally find on the site. Instead of a personal lean, he has slanted the content more towards strictly business. He reported great blog traffic success from it.

Elgé Premeau spoke on Biznik, and how answering questions, and really, just participating has helped her land some articles being published in various corporate newsletters and web sites. Adrienne Fritze spoke about her success on the site Naymz, and how it has really aided in her site traffic. Susan Rich came from a writers perspective, and rightly so, since the web is made up of mostly words. She explained that (as I have said before) your story is what people want to read. It is the first door to getting to know you, and it could be the tipping point on contacting you for a job.

I will be discussing this topic further, but for now, I thought I’d introduce you to the topic. It’s an important one, and online networking is a new world that has no real boundaries.

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As I have said before – No it isn’t dead, but the old rules certainly don’t apply anymore. Marketing is a new beast, and it is migrating to the web in a massive wave. Part 3 of this 4 part series is about viral marketing. I found this particular subject so interesting and helpful, I wrote an entire article on Levi’s and their efforts. This is a watered down version – you can find the full article here, And The Levi’s Project Runway Winner is… Levi’s!

Levi’s is a brand that has withstood the test of time. Providing the U.S. with jeans since 1873, it is a brand that you would think, could stay strong forever. Not so. Levi’s sales began to slip after they peaked in 1996 at $7.1 billion. In November of 2007, sales dropped to about $5.1 billion. That’s a 2 billion dollar loss! What happened? What could they do to stop the bleeding?

First – Levi’s hired Philip A. Marineau, Levi Strauss & Co.’s (new) chief executive, known for successfully giving brands a shot of caffeine. Second, they decided to withdraw all sales of Levi’s online, a struggling and expensive effort. Lastly – they got with the new marketing age, the internet.

Partnering with the cult fashion favorite cable show, Project Runway they created a tie-in website and fashion design contest. With a few viral marketing strategies, peppering the social blog and networking sphere, and the show tie-in contest content sharing among that community – they hit gold.

This my friends is the way it should be done. This is the way of the present and future. “But Levi’s has the huge budget to pull this off! I don’t have that kind of budget!” Actually anyone can do this – no matter your budget. You can start with a company blog, do a link exchange with your colleagues (or Gasp! Your competition!) and use it as a marketing tool without restrictions. You’re smart – you can come up with a great online marketing plan! If you need assistance, E-Mail ME – or post a comment and we can toss the ball together.

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