Adobe Illustrator is my go-to software for anything and everything design-related. It's the one program I truly couldn't work without.
And while it's easy to assume that the program's primary focus is illustration based on the name, there is so much more to this design software.
With tools for type, color, photo cropping, image tracing, drawing, and much more, it has innumerable benefits for bloggers and business owners, alike.
To get your creative gears turning, here's a look at 40 ways Adobe Illustrator can take your blog and/or business to the next level.
First impressions are crucial, especially in business.
Potential customers and clients make judgments about your business within the first few seconds of coming into contact with it, whether it’s through your website, your social media accounts, or a simple blog post graphic.
And those initial thoughts - whether they’re spot on or far off from what you want them to be - are within your control. You have the opportunity to make a killer first impression through high-quality, branded visuals.
If your blog is a large part of your business or you’re hoping to drive more traffic back to your site through your blog, you have to have eye-catching blog graphics to not only generate a positive first impression, but to encourage readers to share your posts on sites like Pinterest and be seen by an even wider audience.
So how do you create eye-catching blog post graphics? And better yet, how can you set them apart so they’ll stand out from the rest and be recognized time and time again?
“When I discovered YouTube, I didn’t work for 5 days.” - Michael Scott
Video platforms like YouTube (and more recently, Periscope) are easily the world’s greatest time-wasters. We’ve all been guilty of losing track of time on YouTube at least once, because videos are easily consumable, very addicting, and highly entertaining.
As a matter of fact, studies show that a whopping 78% of us watch videos online every week and 55% watch videos online every day.
Which is why Youtube is also the world’s greatest overnight-success-maker. If you’re on the production-side of a video and you’ve come up with a clever idea, you might just have a viral hit on your hands.
Video holds a lot of potential for interaction, engagement, and shares for creative businesses. And for that reason, it’s one of the best visual marketing tools you can use.
But it producing videos can be a little overwhelming, can’t it? Even with helpful video tools out there like Animoto, many of us struggle to come up with simple ideas for video content that would appeal to our audience.
And that’s where this post comes in. I’ve rounded up 40 easy, engaging video content ideas to help get your creative gears turning. My hope is that you’ll find a few ideas to implement and as a result, bring your business more exposure.
If you’re looking for a good way to kill at least an hour of your time, type in the word “infographic” in the Pinterest search bar.
Thousands of clever graphics will pop up on everything from “how to make a salad taste awesome” to a baby’s first year in a review. There’s even an infographic that answers the pressing question, “Is your dog sleeping a little too much?”
Then, after you’ve admired the genius creativity behind them, take a gander at how many repins and likes each of those infographics receives. Thousands upon thousands.
In fact, infographic volumes have increased by over 800% in 2 years. Publishers who use infographics grow in traffic an average of 12% more than those who don’t.
What is it about infographics that makes them so appealing? And better yet, how can you come up with some clever infographics for your business so it gains more exposure through likes and shares?
I have all the answers for you in this post.
Is your headline the first thing you consider when you sit down to write a post?
Probably not, but creating a catchy blog post title is one of the most important aspects of each blog post. It's the gateway to your content; it convinces people to click or scroll right past your latest post'.
In fact, studies show that 8 out of 10 people will read your headline but only 2 out of 10 will read your entire post.
Here are a few pointers for drawing in potential readers and a couple "templates" to help you create a catchy headline for your upcoming posts.
Inspiration boards are the foundation for each Elle & Company client design project. Before I begin creating logo concepts or illustrating patterns, I always start by pulling inspiration from photos and compiling them into a clean and cohesive inspiration board. This step is fundamental to my creative process, and it has proven to be effective time and time again for helping me come up with original concepts that my client is happy with.
Email marketing. The sound or thought of that topic may not sound as appealing or exciting as sharing photos on Instagram or posting 140 characters to Twitter, but email marketing is an effective tool for reaching prospective customers and clients. Email campaigns are often an afterthought for many business owners, not a primary marketing strategy. So today I'm discussing the benefits of email campaigns and sharing 4 tips for simplifying your email marketing strategy.
As with any website builder/platform, there's a little bit of an experimental phase as you're getting started. These past couple weeks, my goal has been to walk you through Squarespace and make that experimental phase shorter and easier for you as you set up and customize your own site. I started the series with an overview of why I choose and recommend the platform, I shared how to get started by choosing a plan and template, and last week I covered setting up pages and navigation.
Today I'm reviewing Squarespace Blocks, which allow you to add content to pages and blog posts. I've gathered the information and help links from the Squarespace site and I've compiled them all onto one page for your convenience. My hope is that this post acts as a helpful resource for those of you who are new to this platform. And for those of you who have been using Squarespace already, you might come across some new blocks that you weren't aware of before.
Have you ever wondered why some social media posts get more engagement than others? Studies show that certain days and times of the week affect the number of people who like, share, favorite, and retweet your posts. Most of you are fully aware that 3:00am on a Wednesday morning isn't the most optimal time to post an image on Instagram and expect engagement, but it's helpful to know specific days and times that your audience is most active. Today we've rounded up the data to help you gain more engagement with your followers over social media.
Bounce rate: the percentage of visitors who enter a site and "bounce" rather than continue viewing other pages within the same site. The bounce rate measures the effectiveness of a website to entice readers to continue with their visit. If you have a goal in mind for your audience, whether it's to have them buy a product, contact you for a service, or increase your number of page views for sponsorships, having a low bounce rate is of great importance.
So how can you keep visitors clicking around on your site and entice them to stick around longer? Here are 7 ways.
