Orbit Irrigation is on a mission to save water and we want to help. They have devised three easy steps any home owner can implement. First, start your system right; second, set your sprinkler timer schedule; and third, manage your watering frequency over the summer.

To make saving water even more satisfying O
rbit is giving away the ultimate college bowl package. You could win ticket, travel, and meals to a BYU, USU, or U of U bowl game, and just to make it interesting the water you save is measured and attributed to the school of your choice.

Learn water saving tips and enter to win the contest at www.protectyourhometurf.com.

There hasn’t been a lot of forward progression in the realm to location-based services in the last year. Facebook for instance scaled back their places feature and created a check-in button that goes nearly unnoticed on posts, and research has shown that people aren’t using their smart phones for location-based applications. “In November (2011), Pew released survey results showing just 4% of online adults use location-based services and only 1% uses these services on a given day.” The location trend isn’t catching on as a daily activity.

Because lists are so popular in blogs, and because I couldn’t think of anything better, I decided to create a list of things that location-based platform offer the average consumer. Maybe this will help us understand why these media aren’t taking hold of the masses.

1. Location based platforms give users the ability to share information about a specific location with their social network.
2. Businesses can offer exclusive on site deals.
3. Location sourcing can geo-targeted advertising to people in a certain area (Personally this could become very annoying).

Maybe there is more to these applications then this, but I can’t see any of these services being more convenient than searching Google or, heaven forbid, calling a friend. It might be my inner hermit that says these platforms are just trendy ways to be a neighbor, but putting all that aside, I can’t disregard the fact that I am still the mayor of my office. No other platform has made me the mayor before, and if being the mayor isn’t cool, then what will become of my location-based power?

Whether or not platforms like Foursquare and Gowalla are just passing fads, the technology that powers them isn’t. My next post will be looking at what companies like Redbox have done with location-based services that is revolutionizing the way people are finding products.

With over 500 million users it is the largest open communication platform on the web. Coming from it’s humble beginnings , it was plagued by frequent downtime. However, stability problems seem to be a thing of the past. Twitter hashtags and handels have become a part of pop culture, and ask any celebrity how to reach them and it will most likely be their Twitter nickname.

The questions about Twitter remain the same:  Will it go public? Will it be acquired by a giant like Google or Apple? Or will it simply continue to grow? We’ll see. But until then, Happy Birthday!

I recently came across Malt-O-Meal’s rebrand. Their new name is MOM brands and their logo made me smile. Give credit to a large corporation with a long history to try something completely new and creative. The type choices and sun illustration are wonderful.

Read more at: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/moms_the_word.php

Re-Vamp Your Social Media Plan. Even though the layout will be different, the purpose of Facebook hasn’t changed. It is still a communication tool. It is still great for you to communicate your brand with your audience. The new timeline will be more esthetically pleasing, from a design prospective, but the capabilities remain the same. If you are happy with your social media plan, keep it. If you feel like your plan could use a few tweaks and changes, now is the time to do it.

Start Preparing Your Timeline Image. The biggest, and most exciting feature in timeline is the large image featured on the top of the page. Facebook has given you a lot of real estate for you, and your business should use it to feature something powerful and captivating. Start thinking of what you want people to see when they first visit your page. You have endless opportunities, it can be changed frequently with weekly specials or sales, or a reason you want them to like your page.

Go Through Your Company’s History. With timeline you will be able to mark events or milestones even before Facebook was invented. Go through your history and make note of when you were founded, moved to a new location, added new services, etc. Everyone loves a good start-up story, and fans love the personal touch. Take this opportunity to create personality, tell your story of how you began, and how you got to where you are today.

Spring Cleaning. Who are your admins- are they all necessary? Now is a good time to moderate who you have involved with your Facebook account. Update information, add photos. One of the new features of timeline is a map, make sure your location is up to date so consumers can find you.

RELAX! Facebook isn’t forcing you to make this change overnight, we are given a grace period (March 30th in this case). Use this time to make adjustments and prepare for the change.

Do What You Love.

Try to find projects you are really into. I find that my work is much better when I like what I am doing. Many of my portfolio pieces are from projects that just sounded really fun. You can feel an energy and enthusiasm in work that people cared for. If you can’t get a cool client project, make up your own!

Ask Others.

Ask your fellow designers. Ask your mom. Ask the web programmer, your spouse, anyone. Does the design make sense? Do you like the colors? Will this work? I’ve found that asking for other’s opinions and advice is invaluable to making yourself a better designer.

Flat Rates Suck.

When I finally became full-time it seemed like more and more opportunities came my way. I began getting a healthy flow of pro bono and family related projects. Finally, I was offered my first freelance job. It was to be short and sweet, only an estimated 25 hours were predicted to finish everything. I was offered a flat rate that would equate to a good chunk of change for a month’s worth of late nights. I eagerly agreed to the deal.

The next morning I told my creative director of my new project and boasted of the small fortune coming my way for a measly 25 hours of work. “You poor sucker,” was his reply.

I wasn’t sure what he initially meant but I got a quick education. I easily burned through the initial time allowed. More and more “small” requests rolled in. Additional hours became additional weeks, then months. A really fun, quick project became something I despised and I was powerless to do anything about it because I failed to get any sort of contract.

I cringe to think of what I actually made after everything was said and done but learned a valuable lesson about freelance and payments. Go hourly, you’ll thank me for it.

Get a Contract.

*See “Flat Rates Suck.”

Contracts are a great way to protect you and your client. They lay out exactly what is expected and are a good insurance policy when clients get out of hand.

Don’t Be Afraid to Talk Money.

The worst part of this job. It’s hard to talk salaries because as designers we get to do what we really love. Let’s be honest with ourselves though, others are going to profit off of our hard work… more than you might think. Why not bargain for a little better salary? One of the most rewarding things I did this first year was have the courage to write a counter offer for better benefits and pay. I got what I requested and there were no hard feeling from my employer.

This idea might sound strange from an American perspective, but it is actually the norm throughout Europe. The brains behind it are D.J. Trishcler, a brand consultant, and typeface designer Jeremy Dooley, who met at a local coffee shop. They believe they are the first ever to create a custom typeface at the grassroots level, rather than by the demand of the local government.

Joined by another Chattanooga typeface designer, Robbie de Villars, came together to create a mashup of their work. They took inspiration from a number of local visuals including the Cherokee writing system, Coca-Colas first botteling plant, and even that city’s “choo choo,” glorified by the 40s big band song. Dooley calls the finished style a “geometric slab serif”.

Chattanooga was known in the 1960s as one of the country’s filthiest sities, but they have managed to clean up their act and their image in recent years. But the city’s “brand: is out of date, and doesn’t seem to live up to the creative energy of the city. “If you think of a brand as a story, Chattanooga has an amazing story.” said Trischler. “If you look at the visual brand it doesn’t back up that story”. Hopefully this sleek new font can help tell their story a little better.

• Gmail Offline. Pretty self explanatory. It is built to support offline access, so you can read, respond and archive without network access. After your first start-up, Gmail Offline will automatically synchronize messages and queued actions anytime Chrome is running and an Internet connection is available.
• Evernote is a free, notepad-like service that enables you to save and organize anything you’d like to remember without leaving the website. You can also take quick notes, add tasks and tag everything within categories. Social media integration makes the service seamless, and there is also a mobile app that will bring all your notes to your Android and iOS phone or tablet.
• Mint.com. For financial management, Mint.com is a great app that allows you to track, budget and manage your money all in one place. You can manage a bank, credit, loan or retirement account, and the service automatically categorizes all of your transactions, so you know when and where you’re spending and saving.
• PollDaddy is an easy way to create polls, surveys and quizzes. Reach out to potential customers, or figure out what works and what doesn’t for current clients with a customer service survey.
• Ge.tt. What’s great about the file-sharing service Ge.tt is that it not only provides real-time sharing, but it also has statistics that tell you how many times the file has been downloaded. You can also send the shared files in an email directly from the website, without having to worry about the file being too large, and if you create an account, the recipient will have the option to reply directly to you.

If you are running a business and don’t want to get bogged down by too many installed applications these are a few awesome go-to plugins to help you manage your day-to-day routine.

Pinoholic: A person who not only enjoys spending their time on Pinterest, but can’t seem to get enough of it.

If “pinoholic” were a real word, I would definitely consider myself one! Ever since being introduced to this site last July, I enjoy expanding my creative mind with the ideas I find on Pinterest, one of the newest social networks. From discovering new recipes to finding future home decorating ideas, it seems to be endless.

So, what exactly is Pinterest? Launched in 2010, Pinterest is a place where users can organize their favorite links they find on the Internet. Users create “boards” on a topic that interests them then find links, known as “pins,” on the Internet. For example, if you love to cook like me, you can create a “Recipes” board then browse the web and find pins of your favorite recipes to place into your “Recipes” board. Pins are turned into pictures that go along with the site you find, making Pinterest the perfect visual- friendly site.

Pinterest allows users to browse pins already pinned by others. If a Pinterest user sees a pin they want to place in one of their own boards, all they have to do is “repin” the image. Users can connect with their friends and favorite brands to share and repin pins.

For ease and enjoyment purposes, Pinterest users can install a bookmark button that will let them pin practically any picture found online at any time. I frequently use this button on a daily basis because it is so easy to use.

According to TIME Magazine, Pinterest was “dubbed TechCrunch’s Best New Startup of 2011 and drew more than 7 million unique visitors in December alone; a vast jump from 1.68 million in September.” Also, comScore stated that Pinterest was “the fastest growing independent site to hit 10 million monthly unique visits in the U.S., while a new report claims it drives more referral traffic to online retailers than Google+, YouTube, Reddit and LinkedIn combined.

Recently, I have been researching how Pinterest doesn’t have to be used for entertainment purposes. Pinterest is more than a place where users can go and find crafts to make or recipes to cook. Many companies have been using the site to help benefit their brand. Here are some examples:

- Whole Foods uses Pinterest to post content based on reusing recyclable material and gardening tips to “inspire users to be healthy and environmentally conscious.”
- Nordstrom has created boards that relate to their current trends such as “Valentine’s Day at Nordstrom” and “Spring Trend.”
- The marketing department of Bag and apparel designer Kate Spade’s pin inspiring or eye-catching pictures that happen to fit well with the brand rather than pin products that Kate Spade sells.
- Land’s End has contests using Pinterest. Last month, they wrapped up a giveaway where 10 Pinterest users received $250 gift cards for creating boards of their favorite Land’s End products. This was a great publicity method for their company.

As you can see, Pinterest is not just a place for people to find ideas; it is perfect for helping companies to promote products and services as well.

Do you want to use Pinterest for your own company? Here are nine tips that you can use Pinterest to spread the word about your business:

- Spend the time – posting quality pins will give you a greater chance of having others repin your pins.
- Keep it simple – Pinterest draws people in because it is simple and easy to use. Make sure your pins and board go along with the simple-and-easy flow.
- Connect your physical presence with your online presence – Make sure your company connects itself with Pinterest. This means not only having your company on Pinterest, but having your Pinterest link possibly on your company’s website as well.
- Make sure your business is a match – Use Pinterest to connect with the demographic that will be interested in your company. (Ex: Fluid Studio can attract people interested in graphic design and advertising.)
- Use other social nets to feed Pinterest – Existing social networks such as Facebook can help point people to Pinterest.
- Launch a daily pin theme – daily pin themes usually lead to repeated visitors, and repeated users often repin your pins.
- Promote more than products – Post interesting tips and products from other companies. Pinterest users will appreciate your boards more if you do so.
- Follow the big hitters – By following big names on Pinterest, you will raise more awareness about your company.
- Selective curating – Pinterest is pefect for those people that enjoy “curating,” or separating the good from the bad.

So, what are you waiting for? Join Pinterest today and see why it has become one of the best social networks around!

I must warn you, however. If you currently have a busy schedule and can’t afford to have any distractions come into your life, do not, I repeat, DO NOT join Pinterest! You may become a “Pinoholic” yourself and not be able to stop pinning for hours on end!

These people belong to a special group called the antisocial. Wikipedia describes antisocial behavior as “behavior that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society, whether intentionally or through negligence.” I would describe antisocial people as the people that just don’t get it.

Current social media trends have opened doors for companies to reach out to their fan base and interact with them. Unfortunately, the trend has also given way to what I call “antisocial media”. Antisocial media is marked by the same characteristics that we associate with our antisocial cohorts; namely, a disconnection from the current conversation and self centered talk.

I’m sure you have run into some antisocial media marketers, and hopefully you aren’t part of them… Here are some traits and tactics used by antisocial media marketers.

- They don’t add value to the online social dialogue.

- They are on social media platforms to sell to and not to listen to their customers.

- They are disconnected from current social media trends.

- They often say, “if you be my friend I will give you some candy”, but really they just want to send you spam.

- They don’t relate to their customer, they are just a big brand with no personality.

The great American philosopher, Brian Regan, described the antisocial condition perfectly as the “Me Monster”; the guy that only talks about himself. Let’s not be “Me Monsters”, and remember that people aren’t on social media platforms for bands to sell to them. They are on social media platforms to interact with people they know.