Think WordPress is just for blogs? Think again! WordPress is a great option for small businesses looking for an easy, professional way to create great designs for their website content. Let’s take a quick look at four easy WordPress design techniques for creating a killer site.

1.     Choose a Theme
The sky is the limit when it comes to WordPress themes, but keep a couple of points in mind:

• Choose a theme that meets your needs—The theme should reflect the personality of your company. It should also include any essential elements you need to present the type of content you have. Spend some time researching available theme options before you just pick one that strikes your fancy.
• Consider your willingness to dabble in the code—If you are familiar with coding and enjoy tweaking things, you can choose a theme you love even if it has a few elements you’re not really happy with. If you’re the type of person who gets nervous just looking at a block of code, stick with a theme that meets your needs as is.

2.     Customize Your Theme
Do a quick Google search and you’ll come up with thousands of widgets and plug-ins for your WordPress site. They’re the best way to customize your theme, incorporating special capabilities such as social media buttons and other common website elements. Just about any WordPress web design goal can be accomplished with the right plug-in or widget, so take some time to familiarize yourself with what’s out there and how to make it work for you.

3.     Include Well-Chosen Images
We’ve all seen those mind-numbing, generic stock photos of people shaking hands or sitting at a computer in an office. Don’t be boring with your images. Choose something that directly supports the message you’re trying to communicate. If you can’t find something already out there, design your own graphic or snap some photos yourself.

4.     Consider a Blog
If your business lends itself to a blog, WordPress offers a great platform for including one on your website. WordPress web design makes blogging easy. Regular updates are the key to a great blog, so don’t commit to one if you’re only going to post every six months.

Like any new platform, WordPress web design takes some experimentation and research to learn. However, it’s also one of the easiest ways to quickly design and format content for a small website. Need more help creating a killer WordPress website? HMG Creative can help you make the most of the latest plug-ins, widgets, and themes to create the website of your dreams.

As the month of March rolls around, Austinites (and now, people from across the globe) are preparing themselves for the one festival that brings together over 50,000 locals, techies, musicians, hipsters, film makers, producers, celebrities and many more. Yes, South By Southwest or “South By” for those of you in tune with the local lingo has quickly become the go-to festival in North America. Boasting musical acts from over a thousand artists, countless indie movie premieres and hundreds of technology start-ups, SXSW feeds the souls of those in attendance.

In addition to the many fun-filled events, there’s a lot of business that goes down during the nine days that make up SXSW. And as a creative agency that specializes in working with startups, we take this time seriously, both as a networking opportunity and as a chance to help these young entrepreneurs realize their dreams.

Over the years, SXSW has been the launch pad for many major players in the tech and web-based industries. So much so that the third largest social network, Twitter, launched at SXSW back in 2007. The launch of the micro-blogging platform was so successful that Twitter’s servers became overloaded with users during the event. But not every story is as big as Twitter’s, there are hundreds of smaller companies making a name for themselves each year during the festival- and we’re excited to be part of that growth.

As a progressive digital agency with over nine years in the biz, we know how much hard work goes into building a reputable brand and a dominant online presence from the ground up.We can help get you to the next level through proven marketing techniques, creative web design/development and a plan of action that works.

Are you planning on visiting Austin for South By Southwest. If so, make sure you give us a call, Follow us on Twitter, or come say hi when you see us front row at The Flaming Lips and Green Day concerts!

Local, as in—we’re from here, we work here and we employ here. As you already know, Austin is THE place to be; a thriving economy, a driven talent pool and all the BBQ, beer and live music you could ask for. Having our HQ here also helps connect us with some of the nation’s brightest entrepreneurs who are changing the way the Internet and its users operate. We’ve also had the pleasure to work with major staples in the local business community such as OneStar Foundation, WhaleShark Media and The State Bar of Texas.

When we say full-service we really mean it. We go past the web and focus on creating brands. We’re an extension of your business and work with you to create a lasting presence both on and off the Internet. From branding to email marketing to graphic design and printing, we have you covered.

Ten-year tenure. Say that ten times fast. Well, before you get caught up in a tongue twister, listen to this. We started in 2003 and haven’t looked back since. We’ve learned a lot from our successes but even more from our failures. These types of experiences can only be had over time and have been tried and proven over again. This is what we give you, a proven approach that has been molded and continues to mold with new technologies, new clients and new ways of thinking.

Okay, so we’re an Austin branding agency. We’re a local web and print company. We’ve been blowing minds since ’03. We have a solid presence in the local community. But what does that mean to you, the business owner? It means nothing if we can’t deliver. Deliverability is the most important part of the process, because without it, we’d be out of business and you’d be pissed. So we avoid all of that by delivering a quality product that we stand by.

Coolness. Yes, I said it and yes, I meant it. We’re not only a happy bunch of creatives, developers, account executives, payroll administrators and interns; we are fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. We are the person you saw during SXSW at the Dawes show singing every word of “When My Time Comes.” We are the person who bumped into you at Tacodeli who accidentally spilled the “roja” sauce on your shirt- sorry. We are the person who wears a legitimate fireman costume on Halloween and pranks co-workers on April Fool’s. We are the group of people who work late to deliver on a last-minute project. We are HMG Creative and we are your creative agency.

We are so very excited to announce the new website launch of our local Round Rock client, Zenith Massage and Spa.

Unfortunately, our work for them didn’t entail testing out free massages and spa therapy, shucks.  Instead, we focused on what WE do best.  We started by creating a full corporate identity for Zenith by designing a powerful and lasting brand package.  To compliment this robust package, we created a logo to that would represent their uniqueness and produced a variety of stationary collateral.

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This is typical verbatim around this time of year. And like many of you, we at HMG had a very busy and productive 2012.

Rewind

We began 2012 in unchartered territory- Austin, Texas. Although we had built a solid presence in San Diego over the past 8 years, the opening of a new office in Austin came with just as many unknowns as certainties. We knew Austin was an up-and-coming city with a savvy talent pool. We knew it had some of the best music festivals and startup-related conferences (SXSW). And we knew that we’d be gaining some weight from the scrumptious Mexican food and finger-licking BBQ.

What we didn’t know was just as daunting. Would Austin accept us? Could we be as (or more) successful than we had been in San Diego? But in late 2011 we decided to make the move. Challenge accepted.

Fast Forward

As we look back at 2012 and our move to Austin we can’t help but think of how great the year and the city has been to us. We embarked on a journey that has brought us great reward both personally and as a company. We’ve acquired some unique additions to our team and have worked with some of Austin’s finest businesses.

In honor of the wonderful events that have taken place over the course of 2012, we’ve accumulated a list of our favorite 12. We hope you like them just as much as we do!

Hit Play

January– We kicked off the year with the opening of our Austin location; we cheered to good fortune, friends and rockin’ clients!

February– Founded in 1922, Taylor Linens produces quilts that are made of 100% cotton fabric and batting that are often hand quilted with fine, close stitches.  We provided Taylor Linens with: Custom Email Templates, Printing & Collateral, and Web Development.

March– A good month for several reasons, SXSW and Spontuneous. The first is obvious; SXSW is a 9-day music, film and interactive festival showcasing the nation’s hidden gems. The latter is one of our most eclectic and entertaining clients, Spontuneous. Makers of an award-winning board-game that brings your favorite song lyrics to life.

April– RetailMeNot rates every single coupon and then orders it by its usefulness.  Every store is then categorized and ordered by its popularity within that category.  Their users ensure that the best deals quickly rise to the top, and expired or superseded coupons quickly drop down the list.  We provided RetailMeNot with Web Development.

May– OneStar Foundation supports the nonprofit sector of Texas and its stakeholders through initiatives that increase civic engagement, research, rigorous evaluation, and nonprofit organizational excellence.  We have provided OneStar with: Branding, Website Redesign and Press Releases.

June– Quick Fix Stock Charts is an online resource that provides insightful and annotated stock charts while enabling you to make time-sensitive, decisive, money management decisions. We provided QFSC with Branding, Custom Email Templates, Press Release, Printing and Web Design and Development.

July– PrimoDish is a group of developers that love food and thought there needed to be a place where you can easily find the best food around.  We provided PrimoDish with a Website Redesign/UX. (Check out the new website we’re currently building them!)

August– After several months of steady growth we decided to begin a hunt for a stellar Business Development Consultant. We wanted someone who knew the industry and also knew how to build rapport and relationships with the right people. Enter Daniel Alvarez. With over 7 years of experience in sales and marketing, Daniel is our go-to guy for Biz Dev and Social Media Management.

September– There aren’t enough (good) adjectives in the dictionary to describe Stacey Donelan. She is assiduous, determined, creative and absolutely brilliant when it comes to her role as our Social Media Intern. Thanks to her we have built a solid following on our social networks and even created a fun-filled Christmas marketing campaign (see December). Stacey, you’re the best!

October– Every once in a while you stumble upon something so good you just can’t pass it up. In our case, Nick Welp was that hidden gem. His expertise in back-end web development is unparalleled and his knack for perfection paired quite well with HMG’s standards. Nick has helped in creating many custom applications and continues to lead our team of developers into the New Year.

November– As our stomachs prepared for the turkey and dressing coma from a hearty Thanksgiving meal, our developers prepared for an influx of new clients. But from what you say? Not what, who! John Wagner– ultimate selling machine. Hailing from Denver, John touched down in Austin hungry and ready to network. His over 6-year tenure in several managerial sales positions has given John a refined knowledge of B2B sales and project management. We look forward to see what else John has up his sleeve in 2013.

December– In honor of the Holidays and filled with the Christmas spirit, we decided to embark on an HMG-inspired 12 Days of Christmas campaign. Twelve days of absolute holiday giddiness and fun- if you follow us then you saw it. If not, click here for the recap.

The Holidays weren’t the only thing happening at HMG in December. As business demand grew and our list of clients expanded, we were in dire need of a savvy Front-End Designer. And we found just that in Jenn Buch– a West Virginia native, Jenn came to us with a portfolio rivaling our very own. She is not only talented but extremely creative, and our clients LOVE her work. Jenn, thank you for bringing your talents to Austin and more specifically to HMG!

HMG Creative is pleased to announce the addition of another cog to their creative machine, Scott Mise. As a formally-trained Graphic Designer (Abilene Christian University) and a self-taught Web Developer, Scott enjoys merging the disciplines to create comprehensive solutions for clients’ needs. With previous agency experience and a constant curiosity for developing web technologies, I’d say he brings a lot to our table. You’ve probably already seen much of Scott’s design work in restaurants and bars around Austin as well as on the web, and we hope you’re ready for more.

In his spare time Scott loves tinkering with Javascript and PHP just to see what’s possible. Also, as an avid Metroplex sports fan you won’t ever be able to pull him away from a game as long as Jerry’s, Cuban’s or Nolan’s teams are playing. Besides being glued to screens, Scott enjoys working or riding on any of his three, two-wheeled vehicles.

For those of you who don’t know, WordPress is an open source blogging tool and a dynamic content management system (CMS).  Actually, WordPress is currently the most popular blogging platform in use on the Internet.  And what do you know, WordPress is what we currently operate on here at HMG Creative.  For those of you not so familiar with the application, I will provide you with a quick tutorial that will explore and teach you about the ins and outs of WordPress.

Getting Started
The first step, just like any other online management system, is to login.  To do so, add the extension /wp-admin to the end of your website URL.

For example: http://www.hmgcreative.com/blog/wp-admin

Now that you are entered as an administrator, your options are endless.  Well—maybe not endless, but there are a lot of functions to choose from.  So let’s start with a blog.

Creating a New Blog Post
You will see the Dashboard on the left side of the page.  To create a new entry, click “Posts” and choose “Add New.”

Once you have your new workspace you are free to do the following:

• Title It:  What’s a story without a title anyhow?
• Add Content:  This is just like working with Word or any other similar software.  Just type away!
• Pictures & Media:  If you would like to add something to spice up your post, click on the “Upload/Insert” media icon.
  
• Insert a Hyperlink:  Always helpful when you are making references.  If you’d like this link to open in a new window, be sure to check that box!
• Categories:  Choose or add a custom category based on the topic of the post.
• Add Tags:  This will allow readers to track the key words found in your post.

You also have the ability to:

• View it in HTML by choosing that tab which is located at the upper-right corner of the text box.  If you don’t understand HTML coding stay away from this feature.
• Add a title and description in the All-in-One SEO Pack.

Publishing Your Post
The time has come and your masterpiece is now ready for other eyes to see.  So now you must choose, should I publish now and be done with it, should I save it as a draft and have a co-worker proof my work OR should I schedule a time to publish it in the future?  Although this is completely your decision, there are many online studies of the prime times to publish articles, post blogs, tweet, send emails, etc. so be sure to check those out!

Approving Comments
The whole point of a blog is for people around the Web space to learn and interact with one another.  In order to interact, most users will post their comments on other blogs.  However, WordPress does not allow a comment to be seen unless it is approved by you.  In order to decide if this comment is worthy for your blog, go back to the Dashboard panel and click on “Comments.”

Here you will be able to see who and what has been posted.  You are then able to approve or ignore the comment.  You will see these options when you hover over the text.

Editing a Web Page
To do this, head back over to the Dashboard panel.  Choose “Pages,” and then click “All Pages.”

You will see the option to edit the page when you hover over a row.  Once you choose to edit, you are presented with the same options as you were earlier with a blog post.  However, it is different in the fact that it will stay in the same place and will show up in your site navigation (in most cases).

From here, you’ll do the same as you did when you created your new blog post:

• Add a page title
• Edit the body content
• Add images and other media
• View in HTML format
• Edit title and the description of the All-in-One SEO Pack
• Publish, save as a draft or schedule your publishing date

Adding Pages to the Navigation
To begin, select “Appearance” on the Dashboard menu, then choose “Menus.”

You will then select the page that you would like to add in the “Pages” section and press the “Add to Menu” button.  You are able to rearrange the order of the navigation by dragging and dropping the buttons in the general navigation area.  Once you are finished, save your changes by pressing the “Save Menu” option.

Adding a New User
On the Dashboard bar, under “Users,” select “Add New.”

• Fill out the new user form fields.
• You will then be given the following options to assign a role to the new user:
  1.  Subscriber:  Can read comments/comment/receive newsletters, etc. BUT cannot create regular site content
  2.  Administrator:  Has access to all the administration features.
  3.  Editor:  Can publish posts, manage posts, as well as manage other people’s posts, etc.
  4.  Author:  Can publish and manage their own posts and are able to upload files.
  5.  Contributor:  Can write and manage their posts but cannot publish posts or upload media files.
• Once you have done the above, save your changes by pressing the “Add New User” option.

Before no time, you will be an expert at using WordPress.  All it takes is a little practice and all of the functions will become second nature.  Feel free to leave a comment or send us a tweet @hmgcreative with any questions, concerns or maybe even a few of your own tips to share!

HMG Creative is thrilled to announce the launch of Quick Fix Stock Charts, a financial site that educates members on the market about pay day loans and stocks by providing daily stock charts, complete with analysis and comparisons.

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A quick trip to the mall this morning revealed that stores are already gearing up for Thanksgiving and—yikes!—Christmas shopping. 10 percent of retailers have already sent a Christmas email to their subscriber list, but don’t feel bad if you haven’t yet. There’s still plenty of time to get your jingle on. Check out what worked and what didn’t during the 2011 holiday season:

What Worked: Sending Emails During the Week of Black Friday

While email opens were average on Black Friday itself, the week leading up to it was a good week for email marketers. Nearly 16 percent of email subscribers made a purchase in response to an email that was sent during the week of Black Friday.

What Didn’t: Relying on Gimmicks to Earn Better Open Rates (like certain words in the subject line)

Popular subject line word choices for 2011 included “free,” “sale,” and “shipping.” Surprisingly, these words did not result in higher open rates. However, the word “coupon” did entice more people to open an email, although it wasn’t used as often.

Take away: Tried and true subject line methods of stating clearly what your email contains, piquing interest, and promising value earn more opens than gimmicks.

What Worked: Sending Emails to Subscribers on Christmas Day

Surprisingly, 6 percent of the emails sent on Christmas Day were opened, despite the many festivities of Christmas morning and dinner with the in-laws. That’s just 3 percent less than average. Also, people spent over 170 percent more on their mobile devices this year than they did on Christmas Day 2010.

What Didn’t: Expecting Better Response Leading Up to Christmas But Ignoring Christmas Day

Actual customer behavior showed that click-throughs increased on Christmas Day, meaning that the savvy marketers who sent a Christmas Day email were rewarded for their efforts with a spike in sales.

Takeaway: People are already looking for sales and after-Christmas deals even before the wrapping paper has made it into the trash can, so give them plenty of shopping options.

What Worked: Using Social Media to Promote Specials and Sales

Promoting sales and specials on Facebook and Twitter creates buzz as your fans share with their friends, giving you a much broader reach than just your subscriber list.

What Didn’t: Failing to Link Social Media Campaigns With Other Marketing Efforts

Of course, Facebook and Twitter can be limiting in their own way, so don’t expect them to do all your marketing for you. People need commonality across marketing venues to keep them oriented.

Takeaway: Coordinate your social media marketing plans with other marketing campaigns to create a unified strategy that reaches as many people as possible.

The 2012 holiday season is upon us. By reflecting on what did and did not drive sales last year, you can create an effective marketing strategy that will keep shoppers merrily clicking away, even when the weather outside is frightful.

Statistics Source: Epsilon 2012 Holiday Trend Report

HMG Creative knows there are a lot of amazing writers and bloggers out there, and we want to find you. We are always looking for new ways to inform, educate and expand our clients and readers’ industry knowledge.  So with that said, we are looking for some writers who can inject their knowledge, expertise and passion into our blog.

Topics HMG Covers:

• Social Media Marketing
• Social Networking
• SEO
• Mobile Technology
• Email Marketing
• Web Dev/Design
• Something Awesome

Why Write for HMG:

• Exposure to a new audience
• Increase your presence and credibility online
• Get syndicated on other media outlets
• Get new followers on Twitter, of course
• Blog a little or blog a lot
• Because who doesn’t like having their writing featured

Sounds good to you? Great, email us!  Introduce yourself and give us a quick rundown of who you are. Send us an article for review and we’ll place it in queue if we like your stuff. Don’t forget to mention the frequency of your posts (weekly, monthly, etc), or if you just want to be a one-time contributor (we’re cool with that too)! Don’t have an article to post yet? No worries, we’ll help you mull over some cool topics we think would be relative to our blog.

Submit or contact us here.

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