Melissa Behrens Lipovsky, Art Director, The Byne Group's blog

It’s that time of the year again. Enchanting sounds, colorful lights and warm wishes from friends and family are a friendly reminder that it’s the season for giving. Tara Parker-Pope says, “…giving gifts is a surprisingly complex and important part of human interaction, helping to define relationships and strengthen bonds with family and friends. Indeed, psychologists say it is often the giver, rather than the recipient, who reaps the biggest psychological gains from a gift.”

This year at The Byne Group we’ve decided to give the gift of a flock of chicks through Heifer International. In past years we’ve purchased a goat and honey bees. And the giving continues throughout 2011. For every new client we’ll be purchasing a flock of chicks in their name!

Network for Good is all about giving and making it easy for people to give. Imagine that every time you became inspired to help someone or something that you could do it with just a click of your mouse. How about the gift of a “good card?” You can purchase this card online at www1.networkforgood.org/good-card and then give it as a gift to whomever. The recipient can use this card to donate to any of their favorite causes; a charity fighting a disease that’s touched your family; the homeless shelter around the corner; or the school you love.

Giving made simple! What are you “giving” this holiday season?

–Melissa Behrens, Art Director, The Byne Group

(source: A Gift That Gives Right Back? The Giving Itself. New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/health/11well.html)

When we heard about the Give and Grow Program through The Journal News we knew we wanted to be involved. Knowing this ad was going to run in September and October and that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month we chose to highlight The Breast Center at Nyack Hospital for one of our submissions.

We did research on breast cancer in women to inspire us, we wanted to have a real impact on the readers and felt the ad should be a public announcement reminding women to get their yearly mammograms. This is where we pulled in the headline, "1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with cancer," a statistic that certainly got my attention. The body copy supports and reinforces the headline message, "By the time you can feel a lump in the breast it is often 0.4 inches, or one centimeter, in size and contains roughly a million cells. It is estimated that a tumor of this size may take one to five years to develop. During that time, the cancer may metastasize, or spread by lymphatics or blood to areas elsewhere in your body."

Once we had the headline and copy down we needed a visual. After some different visual ideas I came up with the perfect image, a simple pink string around a woman’s finger. Using Dana, our Junior Designer’s index finger we took lots of shots and with a little photo retouching we added the image into the layout. We chose to create the ad in black and white to show the bold importance of having a mammogram while keeping the ribbon pink as a focal point and because the pink ribbon is so iconic.

I hope the ad we created reminded women to the importance of making their yearly mammogram appointments.

–Melissa Behrens, Art Director, The Byne Group

We have now entered the world of Web 3.0. Is your website stuck in 1.0 or 2.0 mode? Answer these 5 questions to find out:

1. Is your site static? (meaning your website shows the same content over and over again)
2. Has your company grown and evolved? That’s great! But have you brought your website along for the ride?
3. Are your competitors’ websites bigger and better then yours?
4. Is your site interactive with your viewers?
5. Have you added social media outlets to your website?

These are the most important things to keep in mind when updating your website. Basically your website is your “first impression” and we all know first impressions are very important. I can say from personal experience how important a well designed website can be to potential customers.

When I moved recently I needed to find a veterinarian closer to my new home. So I searched on Google Maps for local vets in the area and chose one with a great website design. The information was well organized I could move through the site easily and found everything I was looking for. I knew that a company who is well branded probably had it pretty well together (first impressions...). Once I visited the vet, their office, stationary, their everything had one consistent look. They left out no details. And the veterinarian herself was amazing. [rockawayvet.com]

You need to keep your website interesting, up-to-date and take the leap into Web 3.0. You don’t want to bore your current customers and in the process of the update you’ll probably get new customers.

–Melissa Behrens, Art Director, The Byne Group

Every Thanksgiving The Byne Group tries to have some fun putting together unusual cards for our clients. This year Ann Byne was inspired by the most amazing aprons her mother-in-law recently gave her (her mom's mom had made them in the 50s). Through the magic of Photoshop we happily gathered wearing the aprons in a 50s kitchen preparing a Thanksgiving meal with attitude!

So how was I able to do this you may ask. On Halloween we all dressed up as 50s house wives. We then all took photos of one another against a white wall. As you can see some of us really got into character.

After the photos were taken, I downloaded them onto my computer. Using Photoshop I cut away the background so just a silo of each person remained. Since we didn't have a turkey laying around I also had to add a photo of a turkey in my hands.

Once everyone was cut out, I added them into the kitchen photo I had found. I re-sized each appropriately, people in the front were larger and people in the back were smaller to give the illusion of depth.

All of us had a lot of fun with this year's Thanksgiving card. It's always great when each of us can bring an idea to the table and incorporate it all. We have gotten amazing feedback from those who have received the card. Look for our upcoming issue of Freshly Squeezed where we'll have a downloadable PDF of drink recipes of the top 6 mixed drinks from the 50s and favorites of the MadMen characters.

-Melissa Behrens, Senior Graphic Designer, The Byne Group

So what's the difference between a "Group" and a "Page" on Facebook? This question has been swirling around our office lately and I have gotten to the bottom of it. First of all, a Group and a Page look different but there is much more to it then that.

Since my last post on, “How to Create a Facebook Page…” back in January, many of our clients, both for profit and non-profit, have come to us with many questions about how they can have more of a presence on Facebook. So I’m back with more helpful hints, suggestions and an updated way of how to create your “Page.” Remember, Facebook Pages are a distinct presence that represent an organization and are separate from your personal profile.

How to Create a Page:

Step 1: Go to Facebook.com. Right on the homepage there is a link to create a page.

Step 2: Choose which category you fall under. For example if you are a non-profit, select “Brand, Product, or Organization.”

There are numerous ways for brands to leverage Facebook. Pages are enhanced with applications to help any organization communicate with and engage with their fans. Some applications you can use are:

:: RSS Feed
:: Discussion Boards
:: Events
:: Photos
:: Video
:: And many more!

Keep the conversation going! Every time someone comments on your new status, photo, video, or discussion thread, you need to comment on it. You should be talking with your clients. It may take extra effort to engage with your fans but it will keep them coming back. This is one way to promote an exceptional brand.

Keep it current! Spark conversation, post questions, or new topics for a discussion forum. Update your status with calls to action, recent news or upcoming events.

The connection! Support strong relationships with people who care about your organization. Did you know that more than 3 million users become fans of Facebook Pages every day?

For all you non-profits, don’t forget about Causes Pages! Any U.S. registered 501(c)(3) non-profit or Canadian registered charity can sign-up. Facebook processes the donations automatically via credit card, they tally the results, and report the donation activity via a public "scorecard" on the Cause Page. This allows you the ability to reward the people who donated. Our client, La Casa de Don Pedro, recently created a Cause Page. [click here to check it out]

Check out The Byne Group’s Facebook Page to see how we have utilized the photo, video, and RSS feed applications. Or give us a call and we can discuss how The Byne Group can help you create your own Facebook Page. See how we have helped some of our clients create Facebook Pages:

:: Rockland Parent-Child Center
:: General Patent Corporation

–Melissa Behrens, Senior Graphic Designer

I might be one of the "under 30 crowd," but that doesn't mean I was born with a social media chip implanted in my skull. When I was given the task of getting The Byne Group onto Facebook, I too had to learn and overcome my fears of the unknown. So in this entry, my mission is to help you through something I spent a few hours, and yes, a few anxious moments, figuring out.

Times like these you need to be more creative with your budget. The good news is that email marketing can fit into most anyone's budget. Wikipedia explains that email marketing is a form of direct marketing, which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fundraising messages to your customers/clients. You can achieve a big bang for a small price while getting out relevant messages, achieving brand appeal and the ability to measure it all.

• Reduce Other Costs_ Think about what you are printing: holiday cards, invitations, newsletters. Could these be emailed? Of course they can.
• Get Valuable Info_ Using email you can obtain valuable stats and watch response rates in real time. With this information you can easily tweak your emails, see what is working and not working with your client/customer base.
• Build Brand Loyalty_ With email you can keep current clients/customers happy and engaged. Reward loyal customers, but keep it interesting.
• Do's and Don'ts – Use Email The Right Way
  • DON'T buy/rent an email list
  • DON'T send emails everyday
  • DO be client/customer specific
  • DO keep your focus on a permission-based strategy
  • DO make it fun and different

–Melissa Behrens, Senior Graphic Designer

The New Year is fast approaching and maybe it's time you rethought your website’s purpose. The Internet is constantly changing and so is your clients/prospective clients expectations. Visitors expect your site to be “cutting edge” or at least “up-to-date.”

Things to keep in mind while revamping your site:

1. Design with optimization in mind. Search engine optimization (SEO) means having text friendly elements on your website which will make your site easily search able.
2. Visitors want what they are looking for quickly and easily. Spotlight or call to action important services on your homepage (ex: “click here to…” or “free download”).
3. Be proactive and engaging. Start a blog. Invite people to be a part of your online presence. Ask visitors to post their comments. The point of a blog is to share and get involved in a community that is active and listening.
4. Ask your marketing team or web designer for their suggestions.

They may have ideas that you hadn’t thought of.

Check out our newest "green" web design: mydejavusalon.com

~Melissa Behrens
Senior Graphic Designer, The Byne Group
(source: Must-Have Website Features for 2009, by Shaheen, The New York Enterprise Report, October 2008.)