marketing | Akira Media Designs

Killed By Google

“Do I really need a website?” I get this question from time to time and my answer is always, “Yes!” – not because this is my bread and butter, but because I really believe that you do. Yeah, the Internet is full of all sorts of very useful tools and social media is, no doubt, […]

Instagram Hiding Posts?

I am, by no means, not a master of Instagram. However, I know a social media false info campaign when I see one…

Restaurant Websites

I love doing restaurant websites because they have a built in easily organized content that is super great for search engines and customers. Unfortunately, as easy as it is to do it right, it’s just as easy to get it wrong and there’s one thing that makes me absolutely crazy and it’s the menu. When […]

Virtual Instagram Influencer

Meet Miquela, the Instagram fashion/social cause influencer who is completely virtual. While some of us struggle to break the one thousand mark, she has no fewer than 572 thousand followers. I imagine that current fashion is a lot more popular than muffler installations or lunch specials, so we’ve got that to comfort us. There’s an […]

The Best Time for Social Media Posts

From Brafton Content Marketing, a handy infographic for the optimal time to post on various social media platforms for the most exposure.

For the Love of Logos

I found logobook.com yesterday in some random feed, or maybe it was Twitter. Great search functions built in, but more importantly you can browse by designer, business, shapes and country. Yeah, who needs Trademarks & Symbols Vol I & II now? Well, actually, I would like a copy, so if you know where I can get […]

Print Job – Event Flyers

Done for Jazzy Boy Art Co. for the 1st Annual Ocean Detox Day Celebration.

Designers Pick Best & Worst of Political Logos

Political campaign design is a tricky thing; there are a lot of limitations ( “What shade of red, white & blue do you like, sir?” ) and a wide array of things to convey over a wide range of media ( yard signs anyone? ). Politics aside, the Obama logo was the most memorable as […]

What is Responsive Web Design?

The trend towards Responsive Design has been going for a while now, but there’s a good chance that term means absolutely nothing to you. What is Responsive Design and why should you use it when building your website? Hopefully by the time you are finished reading this, you’ll have a good general handle on the concept. What […]

Aaron Draplin Designs a Logo Before Your Eyes

I watched this earlier in the week and it changed my life. I got no fewer than 10 very usable bits of info ranging from inspiration sources to keyboard shortcuts to creative process. Glory!

Copyright 101: You Can’t Use Stuff Without Permission

Image Credit When I worked in television, we occasionally would get a request from a client involving using a popular song on one of their commercials. Our response was always something along the lines of, “You can’t do that without permission or you’ll get a cease and desist letter from or (worse) they’ll just sue […]

Unamused with our conduct, Facebook cracks down

Facebook made an announcement last week that made me pretty happy. I’ve got a really big pet peeve about Facebook business pages that try tricks and manipulations to boost their reach. It bothers me a lot when I see posts ending with things like: “Like this post to show your support for this fallen soldier.” “Comment […]

Restaurant Websites

Today I’m working on a website for a nice Italian restaurant in San Diego. I love working on menu pages for restaurant websites because it’s a good example of well organized content that is easy to format. I come across a lot of restaurants that use PDF’s or even straight images ( ack!) to display […]

Three Reasons to Buy Your Own Domain Name

It may feel like it’s something you can’t do, but you can & should purchase your own domain name. Here are three quick, compelling reasons why. You will save money Granted, it’ll only be a few dollars per year, but the rich don’t stay rich by just giving their hard-earned cash away, right? Might as […]

ADT Allegedly Caught Buying Endorsements

ADT has reached an agreement with the FTC after they were allegedly caught paying bloggers for endorsements of their products on TV without disclosing the relationship. Aside from it just being plain creepy and obviously wrong, the laws are very clear on this matter. If there is any sort of payment made, it must be disclosed. […]

Attention vs. Connecting

I frequently bemoan the state of online marketing today. We have such a great opportunity as small businesses to really connect with our customers to make them more than just anonymous one time consumers of our wares and make them part of our families. Unfortunately the way most social media streams are managed, we seem […]

Facebook Contest Rules

We all know that more “likes” on Facebook means better value for our Facebook business pages. In the never ending quest for more likes, it’s tempting to run a contest, but before you do, you need to know that Facebook has a few rules for such things. Some are obvious (“you are responsible for the […]

QR Code Guerrilla Marketing Downtown Wilmington

Ran downtown this morning to take some photos for a client and spotted this little gem stuck to some magazine dispensers. Feeling bold? Scan and see where it goes. I did.

Seth Godin: Why Small Businesses Fail | Inc.com

“It’s the small, the weird, and the eager that will make or break you.” via Seth Godin: Why Small Businesses Fail | Inc.com This isn’t a new riff for Seth. He’s stated as much before. Find your niche, delight the geeks and you’ll find success. My question is, do you agree? It’s not the easier path, […]

Bryson City takes to YouTube to say that they’re still open.

[youtube.com/watch?v=29Am1m9hzMk] Bryson City, NC has taken to YouTube to let everyone know that they’re open for business even tho the government isn’t. I’m not going to harp on the production value here. Instead I’m going to point out that this is something anyone could do with their smartphone. I might even go so far as […]