Two versions of a flyer for my camera club photo exhibit. Above, for members to print as-needed on their office printers and below, for professional printing and distribution to local businesses. Amazing photo by Tim Meadows.
My photo collage, Flora and Fauna, below will be included in the exhibit.
Thanks for reading, Rachel
Last year our client, Palace Cafe Catering, decided to close their Sunnyvale cafe and focus entirely on the catering side of their business. They have begun construction on a huge and fabulous new kitchen with offices in Belmont. We are looking forward to participating in moving their business forward. Thank you, Palace, for including us in your exciting new business plans.
Along with this move, they are updating their branding. They’ve new colors, style, design, and fonts. New print collateral is in the works and their new web site is almost ready for launch.
PREVIOUS AND NEW LOGO
NEW MAGAZINE ADS
E-MAIL CAMPAIGN
Yesterday, we finalized their new e-mail campaign template and launched their Mardi Gras Menu. As always, our mouths watered while we work – we know how delicious the food is.
MANGIA!
(2025 review – lots has changed over the last ten years, but you can see, much remains the same.)
Our client wanted to attract new customers for a high-value treatment they provide, and to help pay off the high-end equipment they just purchased.
If only one method of online advertising to get new clients is possible due to budget constraints, we always recommend Google AdWords campaigns, which reaches the largest audience in a targeted area, such as within a ten mile radius of your location.
We set up the campaign and wrote the ad copy, made a landing page, chose quality keywords and a specific method of keyword matching to maximize their daily budget.
We measure whether the ad is performing well in a few ways. (Please refer to the graphic below for the numbers in parentheses.)
It should be noted that conversions don’t measure all of the success. Visitors who click on your ad may also call your business for an appointment from your phone number on the landing page (the page we create specifically for the ad offer), and even if they don’t call or make an appointment right away, they have seen your company name and your offer. Repeated exposure to your business is one of the keys to brand layering and attracting new business, so every click to your site furthers your efforts.
We realize most of our clients aren’t seeking such high-value clients where $90/conversion is a reasonable number. This is just one example. A reasonable cost for a new customer or sale depends on your business. And it is not always possible to track just how much new business you are getting from any sales promotion, but a well-executed AdWords campaign should be high on your online marketing agenda.
There are many more important aspects of Google AdWords, enough to fill books, but the info presented here is the very core of how to measure the success of such marketing campaigns.
It’s been a great December. Thanks to friends and clients – and those who are both. We are grateful.
This December, John’s worked a few weekends from our Bear Valley Offices. Not a bad view from the cross country ski trail, right?
All the best, and happy new year too, from John and Rachel
It was wonderful that when shooting the fabulous Susan Graf in her DressCode LBD and jacket, this gorgeous man, dressed in coordinating attire, walked right into the middle of the shot. He was such a good sport and took some photos with us.
The other shots are of clothing from Susan, and Bogner, Schneider, Herno, and other and will be appearing soon in the on-line store we are building for her.
Great work, Palace Cafe Catering, on producing all features of this amazing corporate event carnival – food (of course!), beverages, entertainment, DJ, rides, games, and everything for fun. And thank you for hiring us to take the photos.
Instagram advertising allows you to reach a large and targeted market, using a variety of media, and with options for calls to action and objectives.
There’s an initial, one-time, set up phase which takes considerable time and work. This is a project for John!
First, you’ll get the opportunity to consider your objectives which is a great way to solidify your goals and help you set in stone what will make Instagram advertising a success for your business. We’ll have you choose one objective from the choices below:
These objectives will allow Instagram to funnel you to the best ad choice for your business.
We’ll then ask you to go through the targeting list below to be sure you are not paying for ads for people out of your targeted market.
City, state, region, country? Age range? Gender? Language?
You’ll also be able to target with user interest keywords. For example, this sample ad we are setting up is for a pickleball lifestyle products company, so we are targeting anyone who has shown a social media interest in pickleball.
You may also narrow down your targeting by selecting mobile or desktop devices or both if that’s relevant to your ad and/or business.
Then there’s some general book-keeping:
These are the ad options:
Carousel ads which scroll images or video upon which you may put a text caption. We selected carousel for our pickleball client and that’s what’s shown in our header graphic.
Static, single image ads with text overlay.
Video ads, which can be a set of images with captions as a slideshow, or full video, up to 30 seconds.
Nearly done!
You’ll need a landing page. We recommend a page on your web site which is customized to your Instagram ad. It will be more effective and will allow you to better track your ROI.
What would you like your call to action to be? Apply Now, Book Now, Contact Us, Download, Learn More, Shop Now, Sign Up, Watch more?
Because Instagram is owned by Facebook, ads are actually set up through Facebook’s business portal. You may also run these exact ads on Facebook which can be a big time-saver.
We’ll walk you through every step of the way. We’ll also ask you how you would like to see reporting.
If you use Instagram to promote your business you can take advantage of new business-only features by converting your account. We are recommending that all our clients who have an Instagram presence do this.
When you switch, you will have the following new features and tools:
Upgrading to a Business Profile takes some effort, and requires connecting to your business page on Facebook. Please contact John if you would like us to upgrade your account.
These are the few fonts that will work consistently on all operating systems and devices (currently).
Who’s seen such a mix of shoes on a red carpet? Ever! This is the perfect photo to represent what a kooky and friendly party this was.
I had a fun evening shooting at the Real Housewives of Los Lomitas event, a fundraiser for the Las Lomitas Education Foundation. I’ve never shot an event like this with so many nice people.
The album is on our portfolio on Smugmug.
Plus, I got to play with the starburst filter my brother bought me:
