(616) 356-2545 15 Ionia Ave. SW, Suite 220 - Grand Rapids, MI 49503

What If?

September 27th, 2021 by Ima Admin

Many of America’s greatest innovations began with the big question, “What if…?” and the solutions were even bigger. Virtually every business, large and small started with the question, “What if…?” Often one ‘what if’ leads to other ‘what ifs’.

Let’s assume that your ‘what if’ has lead you to develop a business, but your current ‘what if’ has you on the fence about the need for a website. Let me save you some time – you need one. A good one. Professionally designed to catch leads, increase sales, tell your story, differentiate you from the others – regardless of your industry. Want to know why?
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Is it Time for a Redesign?

September 17th, 2021 by Ima Admin

word graphic relating to design conceptsLike all of us, our pets, our cars & homes, websites age – some better than others. A website may become outdated, non-functional or you may have new needs/goals. Web technologies evolve, coding languages change, and site visitors expectations will increase as they become more sophisticated. Web design is a cyclic and regular process as companies change, new technologies develop and new fashions come along.

Its a smart plan to consider re-designing a site once a year, but at least once every few years. Cyber years, like dog years, are not the same as human years. An older, outdated site can look neglected and can imply poor customer service. However, the frequency of redesign depends on many site, company internal and external factors.

So, what are some common reasons for a site redesign?
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First Best Impressions

August 2nd, 2018 by Ima Admin

On a sad note, funeral services were held earlier this week for a friend who was a psychic contortionist, but it was OK because she had said she saw her own end.

Wow! I’ll bet that left an impression!

‘Impression’ is a funny word.. we can DO an impression, we can MAKE an impression, we can GET an impression, we can be LEFT with an impression, and we can COUNT impressions.

When you arrive at any business or networking event, you make some judgements about who you THINK everyone is and IF you want to have a conversation with them.

It’s OK, we all do it. They’re doing the same thing.
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What Makes a Great Site?

June 22nd, 2018 by Ima Admin

In 2016 mobile internet use had surpassed desktop use. Sometime in 2019, people that forecast this stuff expect that time spent on mobile will exceed time spent on TV (which is today just under 4hrs/day).

With that in mind, several designers/marketers were asked to comment on a question in Alignable, “What makes a great website for today’s time (ie what are the top 5 things for a great design)?”

It’s a good question, and there were a number of varied answers, with many suggesting mobile-responsiveness and fast loading as two of the five criteria. The most liked answer was ‘animated dancing penguins’.

However, the question is too ambiguous to answer. Here’s why…
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Going Mobile

April 19th, 2018 by Ima Admin

Driving down the road, I passed a sign that asked simply, ” Who was the first person with a tablet to download data from the cloud?” The sign was in front of a church and the answer was, of course, Moses.

Fast forwarding about 3500 years, its no real surprise that Google gathers a lot of data… A LOT. Google has been gathering data about how quickly user behavior is shifting on mobile. Not only are more users on mobile devices when using Google search, but how they browse mobile results is changing too.
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Is Your Website Making Cold Calls?

March 21st, 2018 by Ima Admin

While most of us hate making COLD CALLS ourselves, we allow our websites to do it with abandon.

We know that if our prospecting strategy is to simply log in to the customer relationship (CRM) database and start randomly ‘smiling and dialing’, our sales will be low and frustrations will be high.

Many of the best companies will provide their sales team the proper tools they need and their successful top sales pros will have multiple “opening value statements” crafted, practiced and memorized for different types of sales calls to different types of customers and the varied potential objections they might have.
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Visibility Credibility Profitability

March 7th, 2018 by Ima Admin

I might be biased, but it’s hard to imagine a reason for any company of any size not to have a website.

As a multi-year member of BNI (Business Network International), when you think about BNI’s VCP (Visibility/Credibility/Profitability) process, having a website is a no-brainer. If you are unfamiliar, the key concept in BNI’s referral marketing is relationships. Referral marketing works because these relationships work both ways: They benefit both parties.
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Neuroscience and Storytelling

January 25th, 2018 by Ima Admin

What’s Neuroscience and Storytelling Got to Do With My Website?

Let’s take a quick look at a few recent studies.

A Harvard University study determined that 95% of decision-making is subconscious and usually not logical. Neuroscientists know that certain chemicals (neurotransmitters) in our brains are responsible for those reward-motivation / fight-or-flight decisions.

A Content Marketing Institute survey revealed that almost 82% of marketers believe that “engaging and compelling storytelling” is by far the most important element to ensure effective content.

The London School of Business and Management found that customer retention for a properly-told story is 1400% higher as compared to just delivering facts and figures.
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Site Redesign: Imagination Factory

January 30th, 2017 by Ima Admin

jugglingIt’s finally here! The new IFI site. During 2016, Team IFI launched ~20 new client sites (several quite large with an extensive list of features); We ghost blogged through the year for six clients; We managed SOCS, our Suite Online Catering System, for a dozen minor league baseball ballclubs around the country; We handled the tradeshow support needs (design of trinkets, handouts, posters, banners, A/V shows, even tailgate flags) for several clients; We designed / produced numerous direct mail campaigns for several clients totaling over 200,000 postcards (mail merged and EDDM); we handled Adwords campaigns for a couple retained clients; we designed a variety of new logos, business cards, and newsletters for several clients; and we managed site (and server) updates/upgrades for over 50 managed client sites.

Whew!
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News: Inspiration or Desperation?

October 15th, 2016 by Ima Admin

time for changeChange happens for usually one of two reasons: inspiration or desperation.

Clients wanting to have us design that first website are generally inspired, sometimes desperate to finally get online. Re-designing an existing site is often an act of desperation over a failed site or sometimes is inspired by positive changes in the clients’ business.

BTW, we look at a bad website not necessarily as a failure, just an educational experience that might not have turned out so well.
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