A content management system (CMS) is the engine that drives your website. In our latest edition of Brain Lava, Emil and Patty take a peek under the hood at two types of content management systems – open source vs. proprietary. To put it simply, both open source and proprietary CMS are the back ends on which you build your website. An open source CMS is software created collaboratively by the people who use it and is not owned by any single person. A few of the most recognizable open source systems are WordPress or Joomla. Proprietary CMS is software that READ MORE >>
When you’re getting ready to make a purchase – no matter what it is – think about the different stages you go through before swiping your credit card. Let’s say you need a new washing machine because your current machine is making an odd noise. You do a few Google searches in hopes of finding a way to fix it. You learn that it will be more cost effective to buy a new one. You start browsing for new washing machines online. You take a few days to browse machines and compare features and costs. You decide on the two READ MORE >>
To some, social media for business is a beast that they just aren’t prepared to tackle. Where do you even begin? Between creating fresh content and posting consistently, we’re not going to sugar coat it – it’s time consuming. But it’s necessary when you want to share your ideas, engage with your audience, and bring familiarity to your brand. When Chelsi Hardin, ODEA Project Manager, first started running social media for ODEA she thought it would be a piece of cake. If you’re active on social media in your personal life, social media for business can’t be that hard, right? READ MORE >>
After being a teacher for twenty-three years, over half of that teaching kindergarten, I decided it was time for a career change. My own kids were grown and almost flown so what better time for a change? An amazing opportunity was presented to me; did I want to become a project manager at ODEA? I could lie and say I was over the moon and immediately accepted but let’s be honest, I had some reservations. I had been spending most of my days with five-year-olds. What would it be like to be around adults all day? Spoiler alert: I have READ MORE >>
What’s your learning style? Are you a visual learner that prefers to see a picture or image to gain spatial understanding? Or are you an auditory learner that learns best when someone speaks to you or engages in conversation? Maybe you prefer a more hands-on approach with kinesthetic or physical learning? At the end of the day, everyone’s learning style is different and we must keep that in mind, even in marketing! On this week’s episode of Brain Lava, we called in a true pro to talk about the three most popular learning styles and how to use each style READ MORE >>
It’s that time again! Every quarter, each team member of ODEA picks a favorite example of BOLD marketing that caught their attention. We all had a time narrowing down our choices for this one because brand’s have been bringing it! Check out our favorites below. JJ’s pick… Microsoft’s Internal Memo Why is it BOLD? Not everyone felt like a prankster this April Fool’s! Microsoft tried to take the first step in putting an end to tech companies participating in pranks on April Fool’s Day. According to an internal memo , Microsoft found that data shows these pranks have limited positive READ MORE >>
Coffee mugs, pens, the Polo shirts, the car chargers… Swag comes in all shapes and sizes. If you’re not up on the hip language, “swag” is branded promotional items that you gift to clients, potential clients or guests that visit your company. Ever been to a trade show? Two words: swag city! Everywhere you turn someone is trying to stuff something else in your swag bag. But the question that we hear a lot: does swag matter? We’ve got three ODEA ladies giving their thoughts on just that. In this week’s episode of Brain Lava, we’re talking about the different READ MORE >>
The How-To on Proper Image Resizing We’re often inspired to record podcasts after we meet with clients or when we see something interesting on the web or after we’ve had a team huddle. This week is no different and was born out of a blog we wrote, “Marketing Tactics That Should Be Left in The Bargain Bin”. Call it a tactic we should leave behind, call it a designer pet peeve, call it whatever you want but we’re calling it out! If we’ve seen it once, we’ve seen it twice and we can’t stand by and let it happen anymore. READ MORE >>
Have you ever passed by a “bargain bin” sale and thought, “It’s in there for a reason, just keep walking!” Well, we did this week. And it got us thinking about $5 irregular t-shirts, movies that we could have lived without (yes, we’re talking about you Speed 2) and past-their-prime marketing tactics that deserve to be in the bargain bin when it comes to your business. We asked the ODEA team to share some of the tactics they think should be left behind in our imagined marketing bargain bin! Megan Thinking a large email list is king When it comes READ MORE >>