1. Strategize. The most important thing to remember when allocating your marketing budget is to have a strong strategy. Know what you want your marketing to accomplish. By having strong marketing objectives you can focus on creating a budget that will reflect your strategy and address relevant issues. Setting measurable goals allows for you to ensure that your marketing is effective.
2. Analyze. Work to figure out what worked last year and assess your opportunities. Every online marketing action should be tracked by some form of analytics program. This will allow for a higher level of accountability in online marketing and will show you what worked.
3. Find your balance. There is no single marketing strategy that will work for every business. You need to find a balance between traditional and new media that is best for your business and will help you achieve your goals.
4. Your marketing is an investment, not an expense. Like any good investment you should be getting a benefit from your marketing. Ask questions to determine your ROI. Are you goals being met? Is traffic up on your site? Are you transitioning more leads into clients? By keeping an accurate account of your ROI for each part of your marketing plan you can figure out where your marketing efforts are working and where you have the opportunity to improve.
5. Plan in increments. By planning your marketing strategy in 6 month increments it allows you to make adjustments as needed. Allow your budget to be a living document that changes to best suit your needs. Look at it as test situation where you are trying to find what works best for your business. You need to be flexible, if something isn’t working find a way to improve it.

If you have any concerns about your marketing plan, please contact  us so we can discuss and help you solve your problems.

Keep in mind this is only a small selection on the tweets we sent out this week. The best way to keep up to date with us and check out awesome links is by following @OnyxGroup.

Looking for inspiration? Check out these examples of action sequence photography:

http://bit.ly/cKfPo

Useful tips for designing user interfaces for business web applications:

http://bit.ly/cZjitz

For inspiration check out these art manifestos and their applications in contemporary design:

http://bit.ly/90RVMZ

We love creating beautifully designed brochures like these!

http://designm.ag/inspiration/brochure-design/

What Personality Traits Do Designers Share?

http://bit.ly/b6OcU8

Finding inspiration in uncommon sources: 12 places to look!

http://bit.ly/

How to Make Your Network Work for You:

http://bit.ly/aG8tZW

]]> http://onyxcreates.com/2010/03/our-favorite-tweets-from-the-week-of-feb-22-feb-26/feed/ 0 http://onyxcreates.com/2010/02/onyx-group-wins-big-at-addy-awards/ http://onyxcreates.com/2010/02/onyx-group-wins-big-at-addy-awards/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:01:36 +0000 onyxgroup http://onyxcreates.com/?p=1707

Tallahassee, Florida, February 22, 2010 Onyx Group took home 10 awards Saturday night at AAF-Tallahassee “ADDY Awards, the advertising industry” largest and most representative creative competition, recognizing creative excellence and the very best advertising worldwide.

Onyx Group won three Gold ADDYs for their design of the BevShots ecommerce website, the redwire collateral package and for the redwire logo.

The agency received 7 silver ADDYs for their design of the GFVGA website, the Crews & Pesquera website, the WORKFORCE plus annual report, the FCADV annual conference report, the Crews& Pesquera billboard, the GFVGA logo, and the Wine Seller logo.

It is amazing to win more ADDY awards this year. We are very excited for the recognition of our efforts and thank you to all of our clients and our creative team, without you none of this would be possible. says Nadia Kamal, Onyx Group Principal and Strategic Director.

The Creative Solution
The Onyx Group worked with the Sweeps team to draw up a strategic marketing plan which included several foundational communications products: logo, web site, business cards, and stationery.

Visit the website at: www.sweepscommercialcleaning.com

Work Completed

• Brand Development
• Strategic Plan
• Website
• Collateral

GRAPHIC DESIGNER (AKA “THE DOODLER”)

Experienced, talented Graphic Designer needed immediately for a strategic marketing agency headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida. Onyx Group is a fun, energetic team growing fast in the southeast. We are looking for an extremely talented individual to come on board and take our creative to the next level. The ideal candidate can hit the ground running, is a team player and would be on a growth track toward creative director. Please read through our website www.onyxcreates.com for more information about our company. Full-time salary and benefits provided. (Must relocate to Tallahassee, however opportunity to be part of our Orlando office is possible in the near future.)

Qualifications/ Technical Requirements:

• Bachelor degree or equivalent work experience
• Must be located in Tallahassee or willing to relocate
• At least four years work experience working in the graphic design field
• Strong knowledge of Adobe CS3/CS4 In Design, Photoshop, and Illustrator
• Superior design skills
• Attention to detail
• Able to multitask numerous projects simultaneously
• Able to work in a fast paced dynamic environment

Interested applicants must send a portfolio to jobs@onyxcreates.com (a diverse portfolio in web and print preferred).

As a member of many local organizations, our own Nick Williams (aka “the Man”) shares his advice on how to make the most of your professional group membership.

1. FOCUS!  Select groups that are best suited for your availability and needs. This will increase the return you get from the time you dedicate to the group. Determine which are the best groups for your goals, and focus on these groups.
2. WORK! It’s called netWORKing. Attend regularly – You can’t gain anything if you’re not there. If something comes up, try to have a representative from your office attend in your place. That way you will still maintain a presence in the group and your coworker can catch you up on what you missed. Once you leave your meeting, the networking is not done. You really develop the trust and learn more about people in a one-to-one setting. Coffees, lunches, and golf outings will help you build relationships within your network.
3. KNOW! Know your message! Have a plan on how you want to market yourself and your business. Keep on topic and make sure your message is consistent. You’re the brand messenger for your company. “Umms” and “I don’t know” do not fit in here. Be precise and ask for specific leads – this will help you be a highly effective networker.
4. LEAD! When possible take on leadership positions. There isn’t a better way than to have an audience on a weekly basis listening to you. You and your business will stay on the forefront of their minds, and they will remember you when asked for a referral. Someone that is new to the group is more apt to begin a conversation with the group leader than member. Groups are always looking for volunteers and new ideas, so ask how you can help.
5. LISTEN! Always keep an open mind. The person you meet today may become a client tomorrow.

There are a ton of groups out there and plenty of avenues to network with your peers. Get out, get networking and get some business.

See you on the town,

Nick

The 5th annual Tally Awards Gala was held last Saturday. Onyx Group won the award “Best Marketing Firm of Tallahassee” for 2009 (and the second year running.) A HUGE Thank you to everyone who voted for us in this year’s Tally Awards! We appreciate your support and will work to provide the same outstanding service throughout 2010.

-The Onyx Team

Onyx Group is pleased to announce several organizational changes that will enhance our ability to offer outstanding services to our clients in 2010:

•    Nick Williams has transitioned into Onyx Group’s Communications Manager, where he will be focusing heavily on marketing.  “I am thrilled to be able to work on Onyx’s marketing efforts,” Nick says.  “There are so many things involved with our brand awareness, and we have some awesome ideas in store for 2010.”

•    After joining the team late last year, Neil Bell (aka “Mr. Media”) is settling into his business development position.  Neil brings a plethora of knowledge and skill to the team and is already off to a strong start in 2010.

•    Onyx Group welcomes Adrian Mummey, who will be helping to take our websites to the next level of excellence as our new Information Engineer (aka “Web Nomad”).  For more information on Adrian, check out the About section of our newly-updated web site.

•    Megan Valente has transitioned from her position as general intern to her new position as Communications Assistant (aka “The Connector”).  She will be helping with Onyx’s social networking and will be manning the front desk.

•    Bill Mattox recently joined the Onyx Group as our resident Wordsmith.  An experienced writer, Bill (aka “The Chaperone”) is a KCCI Catalyst for 2010 along with Onyx Principal Nadia Kamal.

With so many new things going on at Onyx, we are excited about the year ahead.  Please check out our refurbished website at www.onyxcreates.com.  If you have any questions or want to talk about how we can help your business succeed in 2010, please give us a call at (850) 877-3930.

Chalk 2009 in the record books for Onyx Group. We had an outstanding year thanks to amazing clients, supportive friends and family. We are so thankful for the network that has surrounded us and we are very excited for the success we had in 2009.

With a New Year, comes new beginnings. Onyx Group is proud to announce the launch of our new website. With an all encompassing outlook, you can constantly know what Onyx Group is up too with our Portfolio, Blog, Twitter and Flickr Feeds.

“We create amazing work and campaigns for our clients and we needed our website to highlight this. We have worked very hard to produce an outstanding website featuring our portfolio and services, and it’s a great to start to the New Year” says Kris Carter, Onyx Group Principal and Creative Director.

With so many new things going on at Onyx Group, we are so excited for what 2010 has in store. Please check out our website at www.onyxcreates.com. If you have any questions or want to talk about your marketing and business, please give us a call at (850) 877-3930.

Happy New Year from everyone at Onyx Group!

The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association needed to find a way to build and maintain membership, advertise its annual conference, provide information about farmer’s markets, and promote food safety.

The Creative Solution

The Onyx Group created a new brand for GFVGA and also built the organization a new website.  True to the association’s mission, we employed design elements that have a “down-home” feel even in the digital age.

Visit the website at: www.gfvga.org

Work Completed

• Re-Brand
• Content Managed Website