The Power of Print Marketing

There have been whispers and even yells in recent years that with the onslaught of digital marketing tactics that print “is dead” as a marketing medium. However, any smart marketer would tell you that the old school medium is in fact alive and thriving. You just need to know how to leverage its power. Let’s discuss a few features of print marketing that make it more powerful now than ever:

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THANK YOU – We Won a FAVE!

You probably heard us buzzing about votes a few weeks ago and we’re pleased to announce the hard work paid off! This past weekend we had the honor of winning an Austin Young Chamber’s FAVE Award for you can try looking at lowhosting FAVE Professional Services Company for the 2nd year in a row! We are unbelievably thankful for everyone’s support and votes – we truly couldn’t have done it without you.

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Meet Callie: Our Newest Social Media Marketing Intern

Hi! I’m Callie Musick, the new Social Media and Marketing Coordinator at HMG Creative. It’s Day 1, and I can’t wait to jump in to my new position here. A little about me – I’m currently a senior (enjoying my summer break) at the University of Texas at Austin and will be graduating this December with a B.S. in Advertising with an English minor. Born in North Pole, and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, texas I migrated south after high school and have been enjoying everything the beautiful city of Austin has to offer for the past 6 years. On weekends you can find me soaking up the sun and wakeboarding on Lake Travis, stand-up paddle boarding on Lake Austin, or jamming front row at a live concert downtown.

Recently, I completed an internship with local street art collective, SprATX, as their Social Media and Marketing Manager in which I immersed myself in the brand and the family of artists to build their startup’s online presence. Additionally, with my past training as a marketing manager in the retail industry, I’m excited to bring my real-world experience and variety of interests to the team here at HMG.

At this internship, I’m excited to gain experience working from the agency side of things, and build upon my creative marketing, networking, and writing skills.

I know I have big shoes to fill here, and I’m looking forward to carrying on what Emily has created!

Feel free to shoot me a tweet at @calliemusick or email me at callie[at]hmgcreative.com

Why WordPress is a Win for Non-Profits

It’s always our pleasure to work with local non-profit organizations here in Central Texas and learn about their causes. When creating a website for these entities, we often rely on the functionality of WordPress for the back-end framework of our projects. In addition to the features mentioned in our previous blog Why We Use WordPress (And You Should, Too), there are a few components of the vastly popular platform that lend itself specifically to our use for these organizations that largely depend on their digital presence to promote and provide key functions in their mission of helping others.

Here’s 6 reasons WordPress rocks for non-profits:

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HMG Picks: 15 Austin Nonprofits We Appreciate

Austin is an amazing city for many reasons: the abundance of sunny days, the live music history and artful culture, the friendly vibes from the locals, the plethora of breakfast taco choices … the list goes on and on. One of these reasons that especially stands out to us at HMG is the empathy that Austin residents have for others and the dedication to causes they’re passionate about. This city is a mecca for nonprofit organizations founded on selfless missions that benefit society in a large variety of ways. These entities play a strong role in shaping the culture of our city, and we believe they deserve a little extra recognition.

We’ve compiled a list of 15 of these organizations that were founded here in Austin and are doing some great things for our city and beyond.

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Infographic: Time for a Website Redesign?

Most companies reach a point in their business lifetime when their web presence no longer accurately reflects their goals or identity. This can happen for a number of reasons – after early stages of quick growth and self-discovery, or even after having been around long enough to outgrow a site that had been with them from the beginning. No matter the time or reason, approaching this risk and overlooking it can be extremely detrimental for business, as a company’s online presence largely dictates the way they are viewed to prospective clients, and the world at-large.

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Project Highlight: Glucology

Back in April we met Dr. Lisa Gorn, the developer of Glucology and part owner of garcinia cambogia, an all-natural blood sugar dietary supplement. She came to HMG Creative adjustable dumbbells with the need for a complete online web presence with e-commerce capabilities that could handle the various purchase options Glucology offers. Dr. Gorn also needed a platform to communicate with her audience and keep them up-to-date with product news and related information. Reliability, responsiveness, and ease-of-use were additional critical factors we took into consideration when planning her new website design.
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The Latest Version: Why WordPress Updates are so Important

We’ve talked before on here about how much we love WordPress, and it’s definitely no secret. One of the reasons we’ve mentioned is that it’s an open-source platform, meaning that at any given time there are numerous developers fixing it and making improvements to it across the world. With so much constant attention and many new features being added, updates are released periodically making these enhancements available to the entire WordPress community.

Take advantage of these! We know it can seem overwhelming to alter the site that you’ve built, installed plug-ins and themes for, and is running smoothly, but there’s a danger to skipping these updates and benefits you’ll miss out on if you don’t.

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Meet Our Newest Team Member – John Sheridan!

John Sheridan

Meet HMG’s awesome new < and front-end web designer/developer family photography adelaide at Canvas Collage, John Sheridan! Hailing from the one-stop-light town of Dalzell, SC, John graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Journalism, though he mostly studied computer science, design and photography. He was a programmer/designer at Penelope Design (now ShoutFireBrands), and he even helped a couple guys run for Mayor.

Following college, John moved to the Big Apple in 2011 and found work at Bureau Blank. He lived in Astoria, Queens, frequenting the famous Astoria Bohemian Beer Garden and taking advantage of what NYC had to offer. After the busy city life, he decided to take his work down to the rural south. In September 2012, he opened shop as a freelancer in the mountains about 30 miles away from Boone, North Carolina. It was the perfect spot to freelance once again, grow a beard (which is a great excuse to read reviews of beard bombs) and sit by the fireplace in the snowy weather. Being gear hungry for the latest shaving gizmos is one of my most enjoyed pass times, I guess on can say it is my hobby.

In his free time, John likes to play basketball, and has been playing/coaching for must of his life. In January 2013, he decided to make the move west to the great city of Austin, landing him here at HMG Creative. Give John a warm welcome by commenting below.