So you’ve invested in getting a logo designed to represent your business and now you want to show it off to the world, but where can you put it? When it comes to finding places to put your logo the options are endless. But some places are better than others and it truly comes down to what your business is all about.

You wouldn’t expect to see us, a creative marketing company, on a gym sweat towel. But our logo on a set of pencils, now that could work… Where you place your logo should be strategic, because it can cost a lot, and every action should be done with return on investment [ROI] in mind.

To help get you started we’ve compiled a list full of different ideas to get your creative juices flowing and get your brand seen by as many people as possible.

1. Social Media

Okay, this one may seem obvious, but, we seriously can’t tell you how many businesses we have seen failing to include their logos on their social media sites.

The places to put your logo are endless on social media from your profile picture, covers, story covers, to your posts.

But make sure you place them in the right place and at the right size for optimal views, don’t worry we already have a whole blog dedicated to it so check it out: Social Media Image Sizing Guide 2020

2. Businesses Cards

Don’t miss the change to blast your logo on your business card. While it’s important to have your details on your business card – duh! It’s just as important to include your logo!

Why? Well because images are more memorable than words and we all have 10 million businesses cards to shift through, so much sure your card pops out at your customers with your logo.

3. Email Signature

Another important place to have your logo is on your email signature. Having your logo on your email signatures creates brand recognition in every person to whom you and your employees send emails.

Not only that, but it gives your company a sense of legitimacy and professionalism – it’s your virtual business card!

Your email signature doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just your logo will do! But if you want to fancy it up and add even more credibility, try adding an image of yourself. You can also include any promotional deals your business is offering – just make sure these are changed when the promotion is over!

And of course, don’t forget to add your businesses details; your title within the organisation, your email address, contact number, website link and social media links.

4. Company Car

Getting your car wrapped is a great way to have a mobile billboard. Downside – you have to make sure you’re on the right side of the law! We all remember the sign written car that cut us off five years ago!

Don’t want to go all the way with your car branding, perhaps you could consider a subtle approach like a bumper sticker? Even better, get more printed and hand them out to others as well!

5. Stickers

Who uses stickers these days? Well, you might be semi right, but you hurt the inner 3-year-old in us. Stickers can come in handy for so many different reasons other than just handing them out to children.

Stickers can be super helpful when you want to brand anything and everything! Got to wrap something for a client use your stickers as tape? or put them on the envelopes you send.

6. GIFs

If you have a lot of patience then you can totally attempt this one on your own and for little or no cost. Of course, you could always hire someone else to do it for you.

If your business is a regular in the digital world your own GIF could be a great way to personalise your brand, post them to Instagram stories, use them to reply to comments on Facebook! How cool and memorable would that be!

7. Promotional Merchandise

Okay, this one includes practically anything. Think, “what is relevant to my business?”

Here at Rocket Fuel Design, we love to drink coffee and a lot of it. Because we work from home when we have an in-person meeting with one of our clients we love to go out or meet at their headquarters. What a great way to advertise, care for the environment, save some money, attend to our coffee addiction and spoilt our clients by creating our very own reusable coffee cup. We got ours from Ideal Cup – our customers just love them!

Think about what your customers love to have but hate to buy. Really when it comes to merchandise you want people to generally wear or use them out and about.

8. Website

There are some many different places you can include your logo throughout your website.

• Header
• Footer
• Strategically placed in your images
• On your blog
• As icons
• Favicon [the little image at the start of your domain name in the web browser]

It doesn’t just have to be displayed on the left-hand side of your screen – although remember its best practise to create websites that are user friendly and expected from your users so that generally means that you should create a website that has a similar flow to your competitors.

9. Company Clothing

Again if you and your employees are out and about or meeting lots of people daily, a uniform or some sort of branding on clothes is a must.

Of course, you need practical clothing for your line of work but it doesn’t have to be boring. Take note of colours in your logo and include it in your work gear! For us, the idea of wearing polos with our logo on it is a total turn off. But instead of branding certain clothing, you could always lend towards broaches, name-tags or branded accessories. Or for a more casual look, how about a hoody?

10. Products and packages

There are some seriously fun and funky ways to display your logo and branding on your products.

If your sending packages often, don’t miss the chance to create funky packaging from the box to tissue paper find ways to include your branding! Here’s where those stickers could come in handy again!

Including your logo on your products and packages is a whole other world of design, so when it comes to package design we highly suggest you get in touch with a designer to help.

We just love interesting packaging and flyers, in fact, Lainey likes to keep a collection of some of the more memorable items to refer back to for inspiration.

A collection of printed samples Lainey has collected for inspiration over the years.

11. Invoices and Company Forms and Other Business Stationary

12. Cellphones

Let’s be honest when was the last time you went anywhere without your phone? Just like your car your device can also become a mobile billboard.

• Cellphone cases/ pop it sockets
• Background wallpapers

13. Keychains

This may or may not be at the top of my mind at the moment – just because I have a serious lack of them! But Keychains are a classic, and just like your phone, your keys pretty much follow you everywhere you go!

14. Signage and Billboards

Signage can be expensive, but with the right messaging and the right location, putting your brand on a large sign or billboard can be great for brand recognition. There are so many options these days, from digital to static to moving [think buses] but one thing remains, you need to keep your message simple as signs need to be easily read from a distance to be effective.

15. Presentations

16. Thank You Notes and Compliments Slips

Every time you leave a handwritten note for someone, you could be leaving your brand behind too.

17. Computer Desktop

Are your computers ever in the public eye? Perhaps you show things to your customers on yours, or your computers are visible in the office. Put your logo on your desktop.

18. Get a Stamp!

You could even get a stamp made of your logo so you can stamp it onto pretty much anything. This is a great way to brand things like envelopes if you don’t have the budget to get a lot printed at once.

19. Food

This is a fan favourite. Did you know you can get stamps made that can be used on food. Think branded cookies… mmm… cookies — how cool is that!

20. Brochures and Promotional Material

And no list would be complete without our marketing material. Here make sure that not only your logo is present but that the whole message is on-brand.

So go on, you’ve got the logo, now go and showcase it to the world. In relevant places of course.

Have any other ideas or suggestions we can add to the list, leave us a comment below!

The post 20 Places to Use Your Logo appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

Day One

The team and I had a video meeting to discuss the needs of our client’s during this time and how we could best support each of them. Plans were put in place to make contact with each business owner and discuss the next few weeks. I attended this meeting from the kitchen as my home office had been hijacked by Mr Te Whatu for his work purposes and the living room floor was “hot lava” and the couch cushions were barriers, I suspect to keep baby sisters out.

After trying unsuccessfully to put Miss Hunter to sleep, Andre and I took her for a walk to try a different approach. I took him a secret way to avoid the parks because try explaining to a four-year-old that the park is “closed” when they can clearly see that it is not. We found a few animals and hunted some Pokemon before returning home with a *still awake* baby.

Lunchtime, then a bit of time in the garden because you never know when you might need those veges that you haven’t watered in a while!

Finally got Hunter to sleep! Success, time to get some work done. Email campaigns and social media updates for some of our clients regarding their COVID-19 approaches and essential services. Managed to make contact with some businesses and plans are in place for them. Hunter’s awake so away goes the laptop – wow juggling kids and work is tough!

Hubby finished work, so off to the park for some family time!

Dinner was Pizza Hutt as we farewelled takeaways for the near future – not such a bad thing.

Put the kids to bed and then a bit of planning for tomorrow’s workload.

Day one. Check!

Week One

As we settled into home-life, I knew it would be important to keep the kids [particularly Andre] stimulated or boredom would set in and no one would be happy then. So every day I am making sure we do at least one thing that is really focused on them. For many, that may not sound like much, but as a mum working from home [and dad working from home too] it would be easy to try and focus on that and not do anything special for them.

After touching base with each one of our clients to check in and see what support they need, I have tasked Kate with updating all our client content to suit the new world we have found ourselves in and together we have come up with strategies for each of them. I also had a rather large design project on, so needless to say there have been a lot of late nights getting this done, because as I said in our latest blog – A Guide To Working From Home, when you are with the kids, focus on the kids, so there isn’t a lot of work happening during the day.

I also volunteered Rocket Fuel Design to take the Social Media Management lead for a group called ShieldsUp, which brings together 3D printers from all over the country to supply face shields to our front line medical teams. I thought this was such a great innovation and although it is proving to be a lot of work, I am really proud to be a part of it.

I braved the supermarket for the first time, that was CRAZY weird, particularly when the power went out and the whole place was pitch black, not going to lie, I was scared!

I’ve also started running again, so who knows, this year might be the year I finally complete my marathon goal, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, at this stage I can run around the block!

I think one of the things I miss the most is not having to cook EVERY meal, I mean, I enjoy cooking, but breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, I want a break.

Week Two

I’m actually shocked by how fast that seemed to go! It feels like only last week, we were heading into this and now we are over halfway! I can’t help but have a big sense of pride when I see New Zealand being praised all around the world for how we are “beating” the virus.

I think the highlight has been teaching Andre to ride his bike without training wheels, he picked it up so quickly and now there is no holding him back – proud mum moment.

One of the biggest challenges this week was Andre seeing his friends riding their bikes outside and wanting to join in. How do you explain to a four-year-old that no he can’t play with his friends? He seems to be really missing his friends and has started talking about going back to daycare. He’s handling it really well, but every now and then you can see it getting to him.

I too have started missing some of the things I took for granted. Mostly my friends, I miss the in-person catchups and Dee and I find ourselves calling people for video calls whenever we can. With Easter and my birthday coming up, it is hard, like everyone else, we can’t wait to have a bit more of our freedom back.

The post Self Isolation Sanity: The Great Lockdown of 2020 appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

Lainey shares how and why she quit her 9-5 job to start Rocket Fuel Design.

I always dreamed of running a graphic design studio. Even while I was still studying, I would brainstorm names and create logo designs. I did manage to take on one or two paid jobs, but I was never good at finding paid work or selling my services. The work I got had to come to me.

The development of the Rocket Fuel Design Logo started way back!

Once I completed my studies, I applied for a role as a graphic designer at a local real estate company. The work wasn’t exciting, but I considered myself lucky. Most of the graduates in my class didn’t land jobs in their field of study. I saw the top animation student working at Burger Fuel the year after we graduated, her dreams of Weta Workshop a long way from being a reality.

So I did my job with not a huge amount of satisfaction, while on the side I continued to dream of the design studio I longed to build. Then one day something happened. The Marketing Manager suddenly left. The box that I didn’t realise I was in, was pulled away and I was given the freedom to explore ideas right there in my job. I didn’t need my own business after all! 

How lucky was I, I had found a job I truly loved. I treated that brand like it was my own. At one point I even thought about asking the owner if they would let me open another branch of the brand in a different location. I guess the desire to build something of my own wasn’t completely gone. Just dormant. 

Then the meeting came. The whole team was called in for a very important announcement. We all sat there in anticipation, I was so excited to hear what it was! Then the words, “We are merging…”. The business was being sold and so was my dream job. So what did I do? I did what every overly sensitive young person does. I cried. 

So a few weeks later the business was sold and we merged with the other company that had acquired us. One big happy family. Well for those of you with blended families, you will know that a merger [of any kind] is anything but happy. 

Suddenly there were strangers at the coffee machine. 

Let’s just bypass 6 months of misery [as I think I might have signed a nondisclosure agreement]. I left. 

So what was I going to do now? What I really wanted to do was, you guessed it. Start my own business. But when you have a mortgage and bills to pay and no clients to speak of that’s a bit hard. So I took a role as a marketing coordinator at a tertiary provider. An exciting new adventure.

I hated it. When you’re passion is ideas the worst place you can be is a cog in someone else’s very large machine. I was stifled and I was stuck and I lost my drive. 

Then something marvellous happened. I got pregnant! And my energy and drive came back. So when my maternity leave kicked in and I had time on my hands, while most people relax and start to prepare for their new arrival. I started my very own business. FINALLY! 

I pitched to my first client. They told me I was overpriced. But I had calculated exactly what I needed to be paid to grow the business I wanted. So what did I do? I did what every budding freelancer does. I lowered my price. But I didn’t care. I waddled into the bank at 8 months pregnant and [much to the astonishment of the bank manager] I asked to open a business account. I was in business!

So I worked my butt off – all for the $100/month my client agreed to pay me [for those reading this outside of New Zealand, that’s about USD$50!] But I gained a bit of confidence and word got around and I managed to get a few more clients. Oh, and I had our son, Andre. 

Lainey at her graduation with her husband and newborn son, Andre.

I would work while he slept and I would take him for walks while listening to podcasts. I would watch training videos on business management while I rocked him to sleep. It was tough, but I was finally doing it. I was building my business. 

But I still had bills to pay, and those first couple of clients weren’t going to cut it. Remember I was only charging $100/month… So I returned to work, but I managed to convince my boss to let me cut down to part-time hours because I had a baby. Two, if you counted my business. 

So this is where things got hectic. I worked part-time and worked on my business while still being a mum and a wife. And I did that until I couldn’t do it any more. I talked through me leaving my job with my husband and in true Data Analyst style, he made me put together a business plan and 12-month financial forecast. It checked out. He agreed. 

I was free! 

And that is how Rocket Fuel Design began. 

Today Lainey continues to develop Rocket Fuel Design and has begun helping other students to pursue their dreaming in both design and marketing. She has welcomed her second child, Hunter and remains dreaming of bigger and better things for her company. 

The post How And Why I Quit My 9-5 Job appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

It’s hard to imagine a time before social media and it’s even harder to imagine social media before Facebook.

With all the recent scandals, it is easy to tag social media as the evil monster, but let’s not forget all the amazing things it has given us – Hello! Cat memes! And on a serious note, the ability to connect with people and businesses all over the globe.

This infographic from PostBeyond shows the history of social media and its progression over the last twenty years – yes it’s been twenty years! Some platforms have stood the test of time, others not. I feel we also need to mention Bebo – for that was where I personally got my first taste of social media. And although many of us cringe at the thought of what was posted on there. It was the start of a wonderful journey of oversharing.

The post The History of Social Media from the Very Beginning appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

We had the opportunity to present to a group of Facebook page managers who were looking for some inspiration on improving their pages. While we came into the workshop with our own thoughts to share, during the workshop there was some great discussion that uncovered more tips along the way.

Here’s an overview of what was discussed!

 

The Basics

First up we covered the basic page elements that make up a Facebook page and how we could best optimise these for a professional and visually appealing page.

The Profile Picture

The profiles picture needs to stand alone with your page name, as often this is the only elements from your page that are seen alongside your content in the news feed.

• Does it make a good first impression?
• Does it represent the page well?
• Does it work on a very small scale?
• Does it fit well within the circle space?

Page Name and Username

The pages name and username needs to help your audience identify your page to your followers and target audience.

• Keep it concise
• Make sure your username and page name match as closely as possible to make it easier for people to find and tag you.

The Cover

Your cover image some of the most important real estate on your page, as it’s the first thing your audience sees.

It can be made up of a photo, video, graphic or slideshow. Ask yourself:

• Is it professional? This doesn’t necessarily mean in a professional sense, but does it look like it was specifically made for the purpose of representing your page?
• Does it fit the space? Check it out on mobile, tablet and computer.
• Does it represent your page well?
• Does it make sense to your target audience or group?

HINT: Use a Facebook template to help you design something that is the right dimensions for the space and will look good on all devices

The About Section

Make sure you fill in as much as possible here, keep it updated and professional.

• Contact details – are the all correct and complete
• Story – use text and images to your advantage here, tell a story about your page or brand

• Description – Does this accurately and simply tell people visiting your page who you are or what you do?
• Products (and Services) – list what you provide or offer
• Awards – have you received any accolades that are relevant?
• Categories – Select up to 3 categories that your page fits into

Pinned Post

This is the first post that anyone sees when they visit your page, so make sure it is up to date and relevant. It’s a good idea to make sure that it makes sense to viewers who don’t have an existing relationship with your page, business or brand. This may be the first piece of content they will ever see from you so make it count!

Reviews

Encourage reviews by asking your peers, customers or members to write you a review. These are great for increasing your page’s profile online and your business in search engines. While it may be tempting to delete or ignore negative reviews, NEVER do, they are a great opportunity to erect brand failures and show to others you care about your viewers.

Great now we have covered the basics!
Be sure to check back on your page every few months to update anything that needs updating and edit any details that may have changed.
Audit info by checking each section and making changes, additions and removing anything that is no longer relevant.

Audience or Target Market

Take some time to determine your target audience or market/s. Knowing the answers will help you tailor your content for your audience. Ask yourself the following questions:

Who is going to read your posts?

• Where are they from?
• What do they do?
• What are their interests?
• Why are they following you?
• When are they online?

Brand Voice

Consistency is key when it comes to social media. It is important that your audience gets the same feel from your brand with every encounter. Consider the following:

Look – style, images, layout, colours, branding- use a consistent design, colour palette and logos when creating posts.
Tone – what are you saying, how are you saying it, what tone or language are you using, what emojis do you use, is it first person or third person.
Timing – when are you posting and how often- a/b testing will help to determine what times work best. Avoid random bursts of posting.

It is important to refer back to your audience when answering these questions.
Once you know who and how to effectively reach your audience you can start considering the WHAT. This is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle – your content!

Content

Your content is made up of content you create yourself and curated content – content you source and repurpose from others because it resonates with your target audience.

Types of Content:
Photos, graphics, videos, Facebook live, polls, events, stories, carousels, slideshows, blogs, notes, quotes and memes

Share and create content that is either timely, seasonal or evergreen.

• Timely- current news or promotions
• Seasonal- summertime, Christmas, Easter
• Evergreen- human interest stories, how to, engagement and entertainment posts

You want to use a variety of content types to keep your page interesting.
Each post should achieve at least one of the 3E’s when creating your content.

3Es – Educate | Entertain | Engage

Educate – how to, advice, answer a question, share on a topic, case studies, history, product information
Entertain – quotes, memes, updates, fun
Engage – ask a question, ask for input

Where to find content

• Follow similar pages
• Subscribe to blogs
• Setup Google alerts
• Pinterest
• Join Facebook or Linked in groups
• Follow inspiring Instagram accounts

Planning

It’s important to create either a weekly, fortnightly or monthly plan for your content. It doesn’t matter whether it’s mapped out up on the computer orb by pen and paper.

1. Start with specific dates, what is happening that is of interest to your audience that you can post about.
2. Start plotting what you can post and where
3. Fill in the gaps with “Evergreen content”
4. Take your planner and create your content, schedule in using either Facebook or another platform like Hootsuite.

Top-tip: Build up a collection of evergreen content to make this process easier over time.

FREE Resources
Graphics – canva
Images – Unsplash or Pixabay, Ceda image library, or even Google (use approved for use)
Scheduling – Hootsuite
Planning – Google sheets or calendars

Evaluate / Insights

Look at the content you posted, ask yourself and view analytics to review what worked, what didn’t and why?
Use this knowledge to plan your next block of content.

There are so many components that make up a social media strategy, this is just a basic overview for those starting out with managing their own Facebook pages.

For advice and help along the way we welcome you to join our Facebook group – “Let’s Chat Marketing” 

The post Social Media 101 for Facebook Page Managers appeared first on Rocket Fuel Design.

 

I had the opportunity to present to a group of university students about the importance of personal branding and the role that social media plays, particularly when it comes to seeking employment.

Because you can bet that your future employer will take a look at your social media profiles before employing you! Like a business brand, your personal brand is how you portray yourself to others. It can be made up of what you say and do, who and what you engage with, your associations, interests and skills.

So what are you putting out there into the world on social media?

This can be broken down into four parts:

1. • Profile – this is what you are consciously deciding to associate or represent your personal brand. It is also the first thing people will see when they search for you on social media.
   • Content – Your posts, photos, hashtags. It is the ongoing content you are creating and sharing.
   • Engagement – Your page engagements, likes, comments and responses to other peoples content.
   • What Others Are Saying About You – harder to control

In a world where sharing every moment has become commonplace, here are our tips for personal branding on social media.

5 Tips for Controlling Your Personal Brand on Social Media

1. Setup and Maintain a LinkedIn profile

Your LinkedIn profile is your online CV and will validate anything you say in your printed CV. It will be searched by your future employers or clients and should represent your qualifications, experience, skills and interests fully and accurately.

Make sure you ask for recommendations and endorsements from those you have worked with professionally.
Use the “ask for a recommendation” feature within LinkedIn to make it really easy for them to respond.

2. Conduct a regular Social Media Audit

Look at your pages with a critical eye and remove anything that doesn’t portray the personal brand you want. Check your security and privacy settings are how you want them.

3. Set your Instagram account to private

Unless you want everyone to see what you are posting – and be careful if you do – set your Instagram account to private. Remember if you have a public profile, anyone can see your photos, and every time you add a hashtag you are adding that photo to the search results for that tag. Just search #drunk and you will see why this isn’t always a good idea!

4. Watch what you are saying on other people or pages content.

People have been reprimanded, fired or even criminally prosecuted all the time for what they say on social media. When in doubt, keep it to yourself…

5. Turn on tagging requests or turn off tagging on your profiles.

Have you been tagged in an embarrassing photograph, only to have it shown to all your friends? By disabling this feature you can make sure you are in control of what images are being shared next to your name.

 

If you have a tip for using social media for personal branding we would love to hear from you, share your thoughts below in the comments.

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