Successful Blog

SOB Business Cafe: 300 Outstanding Logos, Portfolios, and Design Sites

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

This Week Featuring Design and Presentation

imjustcreative
This is Part 10 of the Logo Design RoundUp series. A special edition, with a whopping 27 logos shown below. This series showcases a collection of logos and brand marks, self submitted by a bunch of freelance designers and creative folk in many creative areas. These designers use the logos to sell, promote, brand and market their various skills.

design sponge
sometimes i fall in love with product photos as much as the product itself. these photos from the new collection of toldbod 120 pendant lamps from louis poulsen lighting are just too lovely to ignore.

Blog. Spoon Graphics
Retro Futurism is the term used to describe artwork depicting a view of the future, from the eyes of the past. The artwork itself also has the appearance of something old and vintage, basically blending both past and future into one style of artwork that blows your mind!

graphic design blog
To succeed in the world of Graphic Design, always exhibit you creativity skills in a tempting and presentable manner. If you are a fresh graduate and looking for a job as a graphic designer, the first tip to success is to create a “smashing portfolio” …

2EXPERTDESIGN
Below you’ll find a collection of 40 beautiful and creative typography designs to inspire you that will allow you to expand your knowledge base of what typography really is …

Web Design Booth
In the previous post, we showcase 50 creative portfolios and soon there are readers who request us to share beautiful blog designs. A great portfolio will attract more clients to a designer while great blog design will bring you more visitors too.

Hongkiat
When we talk about design, the key word is ‘impression‘. A visually attractive blog leaves behind a deep impression among people such that the person remembers it enough to actually revisit the site another time. This list of absolutely gorgeous-looking blogs below was compiled to provide you with some ideas on what you can do to come up with an attractive and well-designed blog.

freelance folder
In this list we’ve compiled 30 of the most gorgeous navigation menu designs — all of which are big, bold, and beautiful. Take a look and see what you think:

Studio-XL
In this post, we’d like to show you 50 great examples of how hand drawing and web design can fit beautifully together. Full list after jump.

Functioning Form
Today at their headquarters in Palo Alto, Facebook’s design team walked through their philosophy and approach to designing for a quarter billion users. In particular, they emphasized the importance of writing code, sharing designs early and often, being involved with a project from start to finish, and not falling in love with your work.

Related ala carte selections include

Dawud Miracle is celebrating with something for everyone!
But only until Sunday … a $350 website with so much stuff!! (I’m an affiliate.)

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

SOB Business Cafe 08-21-09

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Problogger
My arms were out in front of me, I was taking baby steps, and I was sure that I had been doing everything right. So how could this happen to me?

Painfully lying in bed, I made a startling realization. I was doing it all wrong.

Dumb Little Man
There are millions of brilliant people who pursue aggressive career paths and have their sights set on great achievement. While their ability is nothing short of genius, many lack the soft skills that could put them over the top. These are the traits, qualities and understandings are what make good people great.

Small Biz Survival
One of them said in the last five years, I was the second person to ask about wi-fi. (I may have been the first guy, too, as I go to this place regularly.) My takeaway here is that if you expect a autoshop to do good auto work, chances are that you may have to forfeit other “conveniences”.

As I sat in this shop, I listened to the guys ordering spares. Sometime I would hear them give out a fax number, and then it happened – the fax machine broke.

Prevential
In 2003, I dressed up as an AIM Buddy List for a college Halloween party. I dangled a piece of blank cardboard from my neck that said “I have no friends.”

When I walked into the party, people actually LINED UP to sign it. I didn’t know half of them, but they all wanted their name on my piece of cardboard.

Levite Chronicles
I say “just” a lot. If I don’t say it, I think it.

Related ala carte selections include

Constructing Social
The Constructing Social Genealogical Research division has uncovered the following amazing similarities between social media and mass media mega stars – pure coincidence? We think not!

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

10 Ways You Can Use Twitter for Small Biz

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Twitter Friends

twittericons-2

I’ve been working on a new Twitter presentation for a client that wants the whole team — the whole company — to be part of the conversation. The one I used last was built a while back and Twitter has changed some since then. As I was working on this new presentation new ideas about how the Twitter culture has grown kept coming to me.

They became this simple list and I thought you might find them useful too.

10 Ways to Use Twitter for Small Biz

When you’re on Twitter, you might try a few of these ways to add value and extend your relationships …

  1. Curate a small biz reading list that you filter and share links from.

    2. @BeckyMcCray writes Small Biz Survival

  2. Follow the leaders.
    @smallbiztrends

    3. @barrymoltz
    @TobyDiva
    @problogger

  3. Share ideas that have worked for you … or not.

    4. @stacybrice tweeted: i just got my Play Doh from #sobcon hopelessly stuck to a piece of paper.

  4. Talk about what other folks do well.

    5. @johnhaydontweeted: @Veribatim Can @JeffHunt make robots? Have two ever seen “The Iron Giant”?

  5. Share resources when you find them.

    6. GrowMap tweeted: This is the blog post by @designstrike where I found those and many more #dofollow Social Networking sites. http://su.pr/5ggaxe

  6. Retweet what’s good.

    7. KennedyIAm tweeted: RT @warrenss: Great collection of “must read” whitepapers for social media & business curated by @123socialmedia http://bit.ly/D3wFU #smwp

  7. Share events and announcements

    8. @roundpeg tweeted: I’m attending Citizen Debate: Healthcare, presented by Smaller Indiana – http://hcdebate.eventbrite…. #indy will you be there?

  8. Find people who share specialized tips, tools, and tricks.

    9. @philrichards tweeted: The Temporary Workplace Rules explained – http://bit.ly/2PTKPW

  9. Talk to people … use the @ sign a lot.

    10. @david_body tweeted: @rubbish That’s what the sellers probably thought. (Doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea.)

  10. Let your personality shine.

    11. @brentleary — tweeted: I always get the scrunchy face when I hear that guitar solo. if anyone ever doubted Prince’s skills on the guitar, send them a link to that!

Twitter has a lot in common with small business. It’s nimble, quick, and versatile. It takes time to get started. but can reach customers with care.

What’s Twitter has that most small businesses don’t is a far reaching network at little cash cost. Learn the culture and the lingo, you might find a world of friends and new ideas that make your small business take on that thrill of a new beginning again.

Twitter doesn’t just extend relationships, it makes it easy to make new ones. We find new friends, new customers, new people to partner with, new ideas, new channels of feedback. It’s an open channel for asking questions about our businesses and learning what others see, experience, and know. A curious learner can gain a wealth of knowledge a generous, experienced person can gain a wealth of followers.

Have you found even other ways that Twitter helps small business? Which work best for you?

I connect things … and people.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

SOB Business Cafe 07-16-09

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Levite Chronicles
You are going to talk to some people this week who aren’t completely upbeat.

in over your head
If I do this boring job long enough and well enough, I’ll be promoted to the job that’s fast-paced and exciting. That’s the job I really want.

Talking Story with Say Leadership Coaching
I doubt anyone micromanages intentionally. No one likes to think they are being accused of doing it, and no one wants to be on the receiving end of a micro-manager’s reach.

Virtual Impax
Social Media is shifting the balance of power in the relationship between consumers and the businesses that serve them from caveat emptor (buyer beware) to caveat venditor (seller beware) and the easy to use mass communication tool known as social media is the sole reason for this shift.

Remarkable Communication
Does any of this have anything at all to do with writing, blogging, or communication?
Of course it does, silly!

If you can’t dye your hair pink at the moment, you can still write like someone who does.

Related ala carte selections include

AdRants
Vandalism of a whole new kind?

Middle Zone Musings
And I remember when he wrote his first comment on this blog.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

SOB Business Cafe 05-29-09

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Art of Nonconformity
The title of this post is deliberately provocative. First of all, I know that marketers are people too, and most people are marketers of one kind or another.

But when I talk about hating marketers, you probably know what kind of marketers I’m talking about. I’m talking about car salesmen marketers who play on our emotions to get our money.

Riding Dragons
A small middle-aged woman wearing a white sleeveless shirt and khaki cargo pants appeared a few yards to my right. She raised a point-and-shoot camera to a foot or so in front of her face, aimed it at the mountain, snapped a photo, then retreated to her car and left.

IttyBiz
“Win-win” is one of those annoying buzzwords that you hear over and over and over again until you just get so mad that you want to punch Ashton Kutcher repeatedly in the face. But as I’m building these new little businesses of mine, I’m coming to realize why people say “win-win” so often.

Unconventional Thinking
In business, when we peel away all of the code, the rules, the myths, the jargon, the Harvard case studies, all we have to do is to find a code breaker: which is a single thing that if we do it over and over again, it will always be profitable.

The Fluent Self
Okay, so when people ask me about business-ey things, and — more specifically — how my own thing has gotten all biggified, I have to talk about the weird magical power of being yourself.

And not just being yourself, but being yourself out loud.

Even if that means that people know that I am a total mess talk to ducks, have monsters and completely fall apart sometimes.

Related ala carte selections include

From the Mind of Neenz
As I type this, I can hear my Mother’s voice as she delivered the news to me over the phone. As I type this, I recall the words of my dear friend Jan in an email, “Oh Neen, I almost want to ask…are you sure?” As I type this, I can hear his laughter as if he’s only down the hall in his bedroom. As I type this I am reminded, remembering is part of healing.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

SOB Business Cafe 05-22-09

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Dosh Dosh
Experts have talked about this before. How many times have you read about the importance of ‘adding value’ for your audience? How many times have you read about ‘building trust’ with your readers/prospects?

TwitTip
Now that Twitter has several million active users, it’s no surprise to see such a variety of people discussing a wide range of topics. But while the content of all those tweets may be so different, they ultimately fall roughly into five categories.

Less Ordinary
Most Tuesdays I pay my grandparents a visit, and while I’m there I tend to take quite a few pics in my grandad’s garden. When I was there last week, as well as taking lots more photos of the beautiful flowers growing in the borders, pots and window boxes, I also took some shots in the greenhouse:

ChrisG
The way that UsefulTools is differentiating is through focus. By sacrificing the news, gossip and editorial, and aiming just for the review slice of the pie, they will stand out. Also, and this is just my hope, they will avoid the echo-chamber and TechMeme chasing behavior of some of the other blogs out there!

Related ala carte selections include

White Trash Mom
Mikwright Cards & Gifts is sponsoring a weekly contest every Thursday here on whitetrashmom.com!

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss