Marketing and branding
10 Tips for small business: surveying your customers
Mike | May 3rd, 2011One of the most important things a business can do is to invest the time to understand its customers. This can be accomplished in several ways: by collecting and analyzing business data, by observing customer behavior, or by studying comparable companies. Or, you could always just take the simple approach and ask them. This simple, [...]
Lean Marketing: Five Cheap Ways To Market Your Startup
Ross | March 28th, 2011Every startup wants to get attention for their product or service. But it’s not easy for a young company to get attention, and can often be very expensive. In this short video, I offer five suggestions to help you get attention for your startup. Do you have other suggestions of ways startups can get attention [...]
The Law on Fonts and Typefaces: Frequently Asked Questions
Ross | March 23rd, 2011The right typeface is often the key to a great logo, graphic or web design. But there’s much confusion and misinformation about typefaces, fonts and the law. Many people do not understand the law governing the use of typefaces and fonts. Others incorrectly assume that they can freely use any typeface or font for any [...]
10 things entrepreneurs can learn from musicians
Mike | March 21st, 2011I have written several posts now about ways entrepreneurs can learn from people and from the world around them. A few months ago I wrote about how much we can learn from kids (e.g. kids know how to entertain themselves) and last month I shared thoughts about what we can learn from dogs (e.g. dogs love [...]
I’m in Logo Love: the new Comedy Central logo
Mike | January 24th, 2011“I’m In Logo Love” is an ongoing series on the crowdSPRING blog. Periodically, we’ll pick a logo we’d like to take home from a bar and tell you why. And if you think it’s a bit strange to have a crush on a cleverly designed logo, get in line – my mom has already lectured [...]
Lean Marketing 101: Setting Goals
Ross | January 18th, 2011A few weeks ago, I wrote about Lean Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses and Startups. That post resonated with small business owners and entrepreneurs looking for inexpensive ways to market their businesses. Many asked if we could share more lean marketing strategies and tips. Today’s post starts a new series in the crowdSPRING Blog – Lean [...]
Reeses Pieces, E.T. and Product Placement in Movies
Ross | January 11th, 2011We are bombarded by advertising from television, radio, online, mail, email, billboards, magazines, buses, and newspapers. Increasingly, we’re also seeing product placements in television shows, video games, and in movies. Product placement is a form of marketing where branded goods or services are placed into a story line of a television show, movie, or other [...]
