August 2010

Every day this month I've looked at the calendar and said "I can't believe it's August already!" Truly, August 1 is the anniversary of MBM - and we're now in our 11th year.

That's like being a pre-teen in people years. Hormones start kicking in, self-confidence starts to build. You get fleeting glimpses of your future and start to think about how you can mold yourself to achieve your dreams. Yep, that fits us - we're growing and learning and refining and achieving.

Of course, being 11 in dog years is a different story. But that reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Groucho Marx: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." Nuff said.

A little networking

Here at MBM, we like to do networking throughout the area. It helps with general MBM awareness and business development, but it also helps us keep a pulse on what's going on in Richmond.

It's been a networking kind of day for me. Today for lunch, I went to my weekly Connect for Lunch, which is a great sort of professional blind date organized by the Chamber.

Tonight Mary Blanche and I are also headed to HYPE(Helping Young Professional Engage), which is a networking group also through the Chamber.

We also like industry-related organizations like the Richmond Ad Club and Richmond chapter of AMA (American Marketing Association).

And we're always looking for new groups to check out, so feel to shoot any recommendations our way!

New Website Coming!

Kelly mentioned in her last blog that she's been working on a couple of sites for clients. In the meantime, Courtney has been hard at work on the MBM website, along with Jason who is a former MBMer turned freelance. He did a great job and we're all really excited about how the site reflects our fine-tuned brand messaging and really reflects our diffentiation.

Look for the site to launch in mid-August. And if you see Court, thank her for her hard work and ask her if I would make the worst client ever. Don't tell me how she answers that question, though.

An Eclectic Group

Each month we receive a Wellness Review report from our IT provider, The HelpDesk Company with all sorts of interesting info about computer security, usage, and backups. I always find the Employee Internet Usage page particularly interesting. Our top 3 sites this month were, in order, Fifa, Cake Central, and Facebook. So yes, we're sports enthusiasts, cake bakers and decorators, and social network junkies.

We also love to listen to music at the office via Pandora, keep up with business connections via The Greater Richmond Chamber and find good looking stock photos at reasonable prices for our clients at iStock.

Any favorite websites you use regularly at work? Let me know. And as importantly, if you don't know what sites your team is visiting on a regular basis then you don't know a lot about what's going on at your office. Consider this a shameless plug for our friends at The HelpDesk Company!

Learning at MBM

Since I'm both the youngest MBMer and one of the more recent staff additions (although it's been almost 2 years!), it's pretty rare that I'm explaining how to do anything. But, with Mary Blanche here as our intern, I've been stopping to explain techniques, policies, and marketing know-how quite a bit recently.

It's been a good exercise to sit back for a minute and think through why we do anything the way we do. It's easy to go through the motions, but when you have to stop and explain why, it can be a challenge!

Whether it's going over how the print process works, how to work with a designer, or how to communicate with a client, it's interesting to see Mary Blanche soaking everything up like a sponge. Plus, at MBM, I think we're always learning something new - all of our clients and vendors work differently and there's always a new project on the horizon. Beyond that, I'm sure at some point, Mary Blanche is going to offer up a better method or two.

Back in Action - Sort Of

I am back at work after a week of beach vacation on Bald Head Island, NC. It was our first visit to BHI and it was wonderful! There really isn't anything to do but go to the beach, play at the pool, enjoy the scenery and drive around in golf carts. I found the simplicity of it all to be very relaxing compared to my normal life of distractions and stimuli. We hardly even turned on the tv other than the occasional kiddo program. Ah, vacation!

But now I am back at work - sort of. Everyone here took such good care of everything while I was gone there isn't that much catching up to do. Thanks fellow MBM-ers for picking up the slack! I hope everyone gets a chance to take some time off and really relax! And if you need someone to pick up the marketing slack for you while you're gone, just let us know!

Blogging and other bad habits

Like Courtney just posted, I'm part of the office blog slump - which is weird, because I love to tell stories about myself, and a blog post would just be a continuation of that, right?

I thinking blogging is like any other routine habit. When you keep up with it, it's easy (thus why Maggi's so good at blogging)... when you slack, it can be hard to get back into the habit. Just like going to the gym or calling your mother - although both my mother and my step instructor have been known to track me down when they don't hear from me!

So why blog? Why get (and stay) in the habit? Our blog is a great tool for so many reasons. From the back end, it helps give us another voice on the web, which helps our web traffic - for free. On the front end, it helps our clients, partners, friends, potential clients, and even Kelly's mother learn more about MBM and the people behind it.

An additional bad habit of mine? I'm snacking on jelly bellies right now. Better go get some lunch!

Oh that World Wide Web

I have been such a slacker on our blog - but for good reason! I've been busy getting new websites and website updates taken care of for my clients. Take a look!

BRAND new website for The Crossings at Ironbridge

UPDATES for Solid Ground Yoga

UPDATES for Creative

The thing I really love about working on websites is Google Analytics. I'm always so entertained to check out who's viewing our clients' websites and where they're coming from. In fact, I'll be able to see who reads this blog post and clicks on the web links above - how convenient is that?

Peter and The Wolf

I was fortunate to grow up in a family that loved the arts. I was introduced to the ballet, symphony and theater as a child and therefore have an appreciation for these that was founded before I could fight it. Add to that a liberal arts education and it makes me a good fit for marketing. In our profession we have to know a little bit about everything in order to have the right reference points for our varied audiences.

I'm taking my 5 year old nephew for his formal introduction to the symphony via Peter & The Wolf tomorrow. We're both excited, but it's only as I write this that I realize there will be 100's (perhaps 1,000's?) of other small children in attendance. That's a point of reference I may need to do some homework on between now and then.

Go do something artsy this weekend - and if you see me listing on a barstool at Penny Lane Pub at 1:00 in the afternoon you'll know why!

Holiday Greens

Our MBM gift this year was a donation to charity, coupled with a small desktop plant. Given that it's been a challenging year for all, we thought our clients, vendors, and friends would feel good about a donation in their honor and a little greenery on their desks.

The plant is a cool contraption in and of itself. A little brick of dirt, chock full of wheatgrass seeds, is nestled in this little silver container.



All you do is add a little water and keep the plant near some sun, and bam! Easy office plant.

The best thing about this gift has been receiving photos of the plants in action.

Jason, one of our designers, planted the seeds with his son, Sam. Below is Sam shortly after planting...

And here is Farmer Sam after the plant had grown some (also, I think just after waking up from a nap)...


Marcus, one of our programmers, sent in this beautiful shot of his plant...


And even I have been monitoring a plant here in the office. Well, trying to monitor. These thirsty little suckers need a fair amount of water!

Age Matters

As the oldest person in the office, I occasionally find myself explaining quirky phrases or social references. Sometimes this leads to a link to great Saturday Night Live skit, sometimes it's a "you had to be there" moment. It's fun to think back on the iconic images and behaviors from when I was growing up, and to hear from the 30-something and the 20-somethings in the office about what they remember.

I write this thinking about the title of a presentation I'm giving with Mark Faircloth for the Virginia Bankers Association in March. We wanted something a little catchy and creative. As we came up with titles, we had to think about our audience - would they get it or just be confused? Would some get it and those who don't still understand what the topic is about? Or are we just trying to be too creative when it's more important to communicate clearly?

These are issues we struggle with every day for our clients. We want first and foremost to communicate clearly. Then we move to the mindset of the audience - is there some iconic thing or phrase that would help get the message across and remembered? It's a fine line to walk, but we sure love doing it!

Peace (OR) Peace Out (depending on your age)

Well, hello 2010!

The holidays are finally over and 2010 is here. Was it just me or did the holidays last a long time? I'll be glad to get my house cleaned up and my refrigerator thinned out. Now if we could just hurry spring along to get rid of this cold weather!

It's "back to school" week and we're all trying to get back in the swing of things. We'll be presenting some new design concepts that we have been diligently working on during all the holiday cheer. Let's hope we've hit a home run!

Maybe I'm just an optimist but I think this is going to be a really great year!

Holiday calm before the storm

As 2009 is coming to a close, it's hard to believe that January is just around the corner. In our business (like most others), late December can be fairly quiet - annual budgets are spent and everyone's just trying to wrap up the year. It's easy to forget that those first quarter 2010 projects are just around the corner...

A couple things on the horizon - Courtney and I will be busy as we initiate the second phase of a major branding campaign for one of our bank clients. We'll also be continuing to shape identity and sales support materials for a new senior living client. And undoubtedly, there will be a campaign or marketing need that hasn't yet be anticipated.

Looks like 2010 will be off to a busy and creative start!

Congrats Virginia Partners Bank!

It is an exciting week for one of our clients, Virginia Partners Bank, as they open their brand new Main Office building in Downtown Fredericksburg. The new building is beautiful so if you are in the area you should stop by and check it out.

We started working with Virginia Partners Bank when it was just Bill and Lloyd working out of a borrowed space. MBM had the pleasure of assisting with marketing materials from the ground up including the capital raising process, brand and logo development, and general marketing/promotion of the Bank.

Virginia Partners Bank celebrated its one year anniversary in August and has experienced great success in a short time. The Bank has opened two offices and has more than $89 million in assets.

Congrats VPB on your success!

New client website

So, I have to share a new client website. Maggi, Jason, and I spent the summer and fall working with Creative to provide a fantastic new website. Their brand has been evolving over the last few years, and they needed to update their website to reflect this evolution.

Be sure to check it out - Creative's new site.

More Budgeting!

So, it's that time of year when our clients are starting to think, "Where did 2009 go?" They then start thinking about all the things they will need to have planned for 2010.

This is where MBM comes in.

We had a few big meetings last week with some of our clients, mostly to discuss next year's marketing initiatives. I'd like to say that we have things pretty organized when it comes to budget discussions. And we know our clients appreciate the work that we put in to develop a firm budget for them to follow for the year.

It also looks like we'll be busy planning some large campaigns for one of our banking clients - some fun checking account promotions and Grand Openings. Get excited for 2010!