Smart Marketing Habits » Graphics

Favicon Creators

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:46:48 +0000

http://www.html-kit.com/favicon/ offers a free Favicon creator from and image.

If you are a wordpress user – you can then use All in One Favicon plugin to quickly add it to your blog.

No Cost Images for Blogs,Websites and Forums

admin — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:17:03 +0000

FreeDigitalPhotos.net provides free photos for web use with proper attribution. when you are looking for images or graphic design items that can help you illustrate a point or a concept for your blog or web – using this service may be a preferable cost alternative to purchasing the image.

If you are needing images to use in print such as doing mail outs, brochures, flyers etc – you can also get those very reasonably priced.

So here you are – just one more resource for finding the images you need and want.

Courtesy FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sources for Low Cost Graphics

admin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:10:04 +0000

Finding low cost graphics for blogs an websites can be easy if you have the right resources.

If you are doing things yourself:

My main source for royalty free graphics is Istockphoto. Depending on the size of the image you are charged a certain number of credits to purchase an image. Most small images for the web are just a dollar or two – and a large file for printing may cost you 10 to 15. All in all – great value when you need to create an impact in your marketing material.

Another source is 123rf.com

123RF has a very large selection of free images they offer which are offered on a time-limited basis – definitely worth taking a look as the “just right” image may be right there waiting for you.

If you are looking to have someone help you with your graphic marketing materials there are a number of sources for which you can find economical help depending on what your needs are:

Try these folks:

99Designs.com

99designs connects clients needing design work such as logo designs, business cards or web sites to a thriving community of over 17,000 designers.

Elance.com

Elance is not just for graphic design – but also great to find writers here.

Guru.com – also has a very large freelancer data base

Outsourcing your design work can save you a lot of time and frustration if you are not an expert with graphic programs and up with best practices – and at the same time – it can also cost you some time and energy when working with outside suppliers.

A couple of quick tips:

Don’t just accept the 1st offer you get in response to your request – as some of the folks on these data bases – respond to everything – and sometime they don’t read what they are responding to. I often put a codeword in the post – and ask any reply to include the code word in the response – that way I know I am not getting just an auto-response.

So some smart best practices are often a great idea.

Things like:

not paying full balance until the work is completed to your satisfaction – Keep the funds in escrow ready for the work to be completed
not writing a positive recommendation until the work has been completed
find someone who you like and who is efficient – and then use them
be very specific about B timescales, quality required, layout etc – and renegotiate after anything changes

Mind Mapping with Visual Mind

admin — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:12:30 +0000

The Marketer: Mind Technologies

The Marketing Blurb: Visualize Your Thinking and Organize Your Work
The Product Link: Visual Mind

What It Does:

Stand alone software, 30day free trail available

What it does: Does the mind mapping thing -You will want to have a look at Visual Mind’s product comparison chart before you purchase – to make sure you all the tools you need – pay particular attention to the export functions. To have the most flexibility – choose the business version.

What they do have that is a nice add-on is a program called the realizer – it helps you do “chunk” sideways brainstorming, and you can get this kind of tool elsewhere for no cost – so this may not be a big priority.

Mind Mapping with Mind Genius

admin — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 18:01:26 +0000

The Marketer: Gael Ltd, Scotland

The Blurb: Bring Clarity and Purpose to Individual and Group thinking and greatly enhance productivity

The Product Link :Mind Genius

Stand Alone Software, free evaluation trail available

What it does: With very similar functions to MindManager by Mind Jet – Mind Genious too exports to Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint, MS Project, PDF, HTML files. Different views are available – including a nifty – map explorer view – which for anyone who is used to used to exploring and working with windows explorer – will find it an efficient way to organize thoughts.

Mind Manager

admin — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:29:12 +0000

The Marketer: Mind Jet USA

The Blurb: Work Smarter, Think Creatively, Save Time – Everyday

The Product Link :Mind Manager

Stand Alone Software, low cost trial available – integrates with outlook, excel, Gyronix and more

What it does: This is one of the best known and coach friendly mind mapping software programs available.

I have been a daily user of Mindmanager since 2001, and have purchased every upgrade since then. This is one of those indespensable tools that helps me organize my day, track committments, projects, sessions, meetings and brainstorms. Creating images, pdf, and word documents are a snap with this program.

The program itself is a bit pricy for some – but this is one of those life- tools that I could not do without. I use Mindmanager with Gryonix to help me tame my inbox. What used to take me hours to do – now takes me minutes.

Clip Art Resources

Admin — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 16:02:27 +0000

The Marketers: Open Source

The Blurb: Open Source for Clip Art. 7000 images as a resource.

The Product Link:www.openclipart.org

Open source, Download, No Cost

What it does: Gives you zip file with 7000 clip art images.

Graphics Programs

Admin — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 01:22:51 +0000

- Gimp – Powerful graphic design program
http://www.gimp.org/
Available for all major and a bunch of minor operating systems. This is the
granddaddy of free graphic software.

- Gimpshop – Open source “substitute” for Photoshop
http://plasticbugs.com/index.php?p=241
Windows, Mac and Linux versions are available.
You can find a lot of good info and resources for Gimp stuff at:
http://www.gimp-savvy.com

- Photoplus – More free graphic software
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com
will let you use some Adobe filters.

- Pixia – Yet another free graphic design program
http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/

Logo Creation

Admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 14:22:00 +0000

logo creation

www.thelogocompany.com
www.logoworks.com

And an article in Wired that ranks a number of companies:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.10/start.html?pg=13

If you are into creating a logo yourself – one of the best software investments I have every made was purchasing AAALogo. I use it almost every day – and for more than logo’s – Any time I need a high resolution headline for marketing headers on printed materials – I use this tool. A thumbs up from me.

Mind Mapping

Admin — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 04:26:05 +0000

Some Popular Mind Mapping Software Applications

BrainMine – mind mapping software
Buzan’s iMindMap -mind mapping software – for creative folks, create your own drawings
ConceptDraw MINDMAP – mind mapping software- compatible with MS Office
HeadCase – Visually appealing mind mapping software – similar to Buzan’s IMindMap
Mind Pad – a user version mind mapping solution
MindApp -mind mapping software program
MindGenius – mind mapping software
Mindjet – MindManager mind mapping software **Excellent*** On screen mapping and collaboration, works well with personal brain, MS Outlook
MindMapper – mind mapping software – some bells and whistles like Gantt charts
Mindmapping, concept mapping in 3D – mind mappers needing room to stretch, the extraordinary clarity of its 3D landscapes
MindVisualizer – Similar look and feel to Mindjet’s Mind Manager- may be easier for some to use.
NovaMind- NovaMind Platinum is for power Mind Mappers, exports well to powerpoint.
OpenMind - Similar to Mindjet’s Mind Manager – works well for project planning
SMART Ideas -Concept mapping software
ThoughtMapper – Mind Mapping Software connects with MS Outlook and Powerpoint
Visual Mind : a corporate mind mapping software – easy to learn, collaborate
XMIND : Open source, Mind mapping sofware

Web Based Mind Mapping Systems

http://mindmaps.kayuda.com/:Kayuda is an ad-supported public beta and is free of charge

Mapul :Organic Mind Maps in an online solutions
Mind42.com – A collaborative browser-based online mind mapping too
WiseMapping -Wise Mapping is the web mind mapping tool that leverages the power of Mind Maps mixing new technologies like vectorial languages (SVG and VML) and the power of the whole Web 2.0 concept
MindMeister: online mapping tool – has a free version with limited use – pay by month for premium versions – post maps to blogs, collaborate.