Comments on: First Impressions, Blogs, and Your Personal Brand

By: Hillary

Hillary — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:07:18 +0000

It’s true, if something has a bad design or is too cluttered I do not even bother to read it. First impressions do count. Great article, thanks for the tips.
http://www.personavita.com

By: mypharmalife

mypharmalife — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:23:48 +0000

Great
WBR,
Alex
http://world-pharma.pillsfm.com
My favourite pharma supermarket

By: Natural Male Enhancement

Natural Male Enhancement — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:07:29 +0000

Thanks for very interesting article. btw. I really enjoyed reading all of your posts. It’s interesting to read ideas, and observations from someone else’s point of view– makes you think more.
So please keep up the great work. Greetings.

By: Maria Elena Duron

Maria Elena Duron — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:54:58 +0000

David,
Great post and to the point. Extremely helpful tips to anyone starting a blog or who is blogging for their brand.
I plan on reading more!
Maria Elena Duron

By: Tobias Baeck

Tobias Baeck — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 23:52:57 +0000

Hi, just wanted to give you some props for the post. Good to see there are more personal branding fanatics out there.. keep up the good work, I will keep on reading!

By: David Armano

David Armano — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 02:34:17 +0000

Maggie,
The best thing you can do is become familiar with good design and branding. Try this:
http://www.designinteract.com/sow/archive.html
There are many different kinds of examples here. Some are clean, some are flashy, some are even more usable than others–but most of the examples here have their own definitive voice.
Google is also a great resources. Type in phrases for what you might be shooting for like “usable web pages” etc.
Basically get familiar with the basics and emulate. Most people who make these mistakes never bother.
Not sure about the garden posts comment. Did you mean Viral Garden? That’s Mack’s blog.
PS, I just looked at your company link. For a highly usable and clean b2b site, see Grainger (worked on this). b2b doesn’t have to be ugly.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 18:23:35 +0000

I really think your post was interesting. My boss has recently assigned me to make a blog for my company, but I am worried that all those bad things you listed that could happen will happen. What are the best measures to get started? And what is this garden posts that people are responding with?

By: Eric Frenchman

Eric Frenchman — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 01:39:47 +0000

Oh I hear you my fellow Prof blogger. That’s why your post was very timely. I decided to start changing it around and have been playing with some design. The blog when I started served me well, but with increased traffic, more experience, and Mack’s advice about visiting as many blogs as possible I noticed it was time for a face-lift. Thanks and I will work with the brand some more.
Eric

By: David Armano

David Armano — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 21:20:42 +0000

“we were challenged with maintaining what had unintentionally turned into a ‘blog brand’ and supporting business objectives. ”
“what I didn’t realize was that by *not* providing readers with visual cues to guide their perceptions of the ‘brand’ Diva’s readers had developed their own ideas of what the site/brand should look like.”
Toby. Excellent story. Somehow I knew there was a good one behind Diva.
Eric–are you taking notes? Brand Happens. If you leave your brand totally up to intepretation, people will fill in the blanks. A great brand is both defined and open to intepretation, but there needs to be a strong foundation.
Just like Toby’s design did not say “Diva” Pardon My French does not say–well… “Pardon My French!”. Hence it needs some attitude. I think this would go a long way with readers.
And Toby–I really like the winning design. It’s in sync with your brand persona.
Last point–Toby mentions that her reader’s expressed passion. Back to Doc’s brand (or lack of)–there is no passion, but more importantly the brand comes across as NEUTRAL. But if you read Doc’s writings–he’s far from neutral and has definite opinions.
Take this quote for example…
“Oh, one more thing. The bill that passed the house flipped a large bird in the general direction of the nation’s municipalities”
Seems pretty passionate.
Is his blog in sync with his personal brand? You be the judge.

By: Toby

Toby — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 19:12:24 +0000

David – thanks for the shout out about Diva Marketing. When Peter and I redesigned Diva we were challenged with maintaining what had unintentionally turned into a ‘blog brand’ and supporting business objectives. We decided to blog the entire process on both of our blogs including posting all the comps. We thought it would be an interesting learning experience for us and for others; we were also curious about the feedback we would receive.
Although, I believe that graphics are an important marketing blog tactic, what I didn’t realize was that by *not* providing readers with visual cues to guide their perceptions of the ‘brand’ Diva’s readers had developed their own ideas of what the site/brand should look like.
What was even more amazing to me was their passion about the design elements from color to image and more. As we well know, bloggers are not shy about voicing their opinions! Here are a couple of comments:
“I picture you in a cool outfit, sipping a cosmopolitan or martini, very Carrie Bradshaw. Smoking a Cuban cigar.”
“The design does not say “Diva” to me . Too much corporate in a fashion designer sort of way..and the shoe element feels thrown in, not part of it.”
“I wonder, if they had to visit the site regularly as we do with blogs — would they have even stronger opinions about the design? My guess is … yes.”
Link to Diva comps – http://www.theblogstudio.com/blogarticle/we-have-a-winnah#comment

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 18:10:47 +0000

Karl –
Thanks for the graphic suggestion(http://www.sxc.hu). Cool stuff — but their pricing seems a little convoluted — i.e. “credits” rather than cash? Or am I missing something?

By: David Armano

David Armano — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 05:08:02 +0000

Eric,
Usability is not too much of an issue on yours. But some things to consider.
1. Although bling is off to the side–is it all needed? Too much bling or advertising can make the content seem “cheap”. Mostly because it’s all mix and match stuff yelling at you in all different ways. In your case they are on the sideline but still…
Think NY Times.com Lots of advertising and “stuff” but tastefully designed and carefully laid out. Elegant even. I would simplify.
2. Great name! Begs for a Theme.
You have the opportunity to own this phrase in the blog world. Your blog needs attitude–just like the name. The red header isn’t cutting it.
3. Again–the expanding template is not always the best choice. Here’s why. When you do this–you lose control over breaks and how your copy looks. Breaks in your text are important. They affect flow. By going “fluid”–your flow becomes arbitrary.
4. Might not be a bad idea to use a really light gray to “anchor” your stuff in the right column. Help seperate your content area from “bling fest”.
Really though. Not too bad. Biggest areas of opportunity are a “theme” for header (it’s begging for one) and some discretion on bling and advertising.

By: Eric Frenchman

Eric Frenchman — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 04:40:42 +0000

Ok David,
I’ve never fancied myself as a designer, mostly media buying, strategy, marketing and such. However, I got caught up in too much bling and decided to redesign. Check me out and let me know – http://www.ericfrenchman.com. I have some ideas myself and want to know what you come up with.
Eric

By: David Armano

David Armano — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 04:08:29 +0000

Usability actually is not too bad with the exception of the banner that I have to pretend isn’t there even though It’s hard to avoid because it pushes all the copy I’m trying to read over to the right.
A banner at the top or even better yet a skyscraper would do this more justice. And how about this? A skyscraper AD to the right might actually be even more effective since it would likely stay visable as you scroll down the page vs. the square ad which scrolls away after the first paragraph or two.
Personal fingerprint: If you’re going to do the whole “typewriter thing”. Push it further and own it. The Daily Fix font looks like it’s trying to evoke a classic typewriter look, but the orange and blue along with no other visual cues don’t really take this far enough.
Lastly. When I first saw “the blog” link at the top of the page–I thought it would take me home. I didn’t realize that’s the way you get to blog archives. Better to call something what it is.
Does this mean I’m out of a paycheck?

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 03:52:15 +0000

OK, Mr. Smarty Pants.
I know I sign your paycheck and all, but what do you think of the design + usability of this blog your holding in your hands?

By: David Armano

David Armano — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 03:28:32 +0000

No takers on my offer? So there must be some wonderfully designed blogs out there. No need to change anything. All totally usable, easy on the eye and differenciated.
So, here’s a blog I came across recently:
http://doc.weblogs.com/
Is there a brand here? That’s debatable. One could make the argument that Doc is intentially evoking “un-design”.
But I don’t buy that. Aside from the content, I think this blog looks like hundreds of other sites/blogs that I’ve seen. Many from individuals who are not overly concerned about “their personal fingerprint” or brand.
While I’m offering a critique here–I also think that the “all copy” approach is a little overwhelming. My eye doesn’t get a break away from the text. Imagine if a magazine did this…
And I’ll also throw out that the choice to make the template “expandable” is not ideal as it looks cramped on my laptop, but really odd on my 21 inch flatscreen.
This is an honest critique–not a criticism. I’m a firm believer that good design delivers differentation and value. It’s why we love our iPods, RAZR’S and don’t mind shopping at Target.

By: karl long

karl long — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 23:40:11 +0000

Friends don’t let friends use blogger (sorry mack), but if you want to get off blogger i’ll host you for free on media temple as long as you keep all your graphics on flickr (no not you guys, just Mack).
For photo’s check out the stock exchange: http://www.sxc.hu
(sort of a photographers run stock photo site, tonnes of free stuff, and not crap free, but good)

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 20:49:05 +0000

Great post, DA!
Here on the Daily Fix, I don’t have a lot of “play” space, but the top graphic is my most favorite spot for having fun and expressing some of the blog’s personality. Believe it or not, I probably spend more time trolling Flickr, Google Images, or other image sites for the “perfect” graphic than I do on anything else.
I know David often grows his own, so to speak. But what about the rest of you? Where else do non-designer bloggers go for images?

By: David Armano

David Armano — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:59:47 +0000

Scott,
It’s a personal choice. Depends on how you want to position your blog (self promo vs value add vs. both). And the million dollar question is why are people coming to your blog? Start there.
That said-there are so many nice tools that can be used to add portfolio type functionality. Flickr can be used this way. I’ve seen some other open source tools that do mini slideshows. Can’t think of the names right now.
Just keep it off to the side (or in a strategic location) and be tasteful about it.
Mack, you are so full of kind words. People are going to think I’m paying you off. I swear–I’m not! We haven’t even met!!

By: Mack Collier

Mack Collier — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 16:30:15 +0000

“I would recommend the use of images to help draw in the reader to your posts (as you did on your last post). It also helps add a little relief as sometimes all text can seem a little daunting.
Also, the green type on green background can sometimes be a little difficult to read, but not terrible. Maybe going slightly lighter on your type will help.”
You’re right on both points. I am too lax about putting photos up, and I’m not a huge fan of the green on green. I will have to try a lighter type and see what it looks like.
You are doing an amazing job of adding visuals to L+E, as I’ve already told you. Kathy Sierra is known for her’s on CPU, I think L+E is coming up strong on the outside

By: Scott Weisbrod

Scott Weisbrod — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 15:47:36 +0000

Great post. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately too. I’m planning on updating my blog template over the next couple of weeks.
Any thoughts on combining a personal portfolio site with a blog? I’m thinking, maybe on the homepage of your site, pull your recent blog posts in and wrap your profile and portfolio content around it. But the blog would still have a dedicated location off your main site.

By: David Armano

David Armano — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 14:49:29 +0000

Mack,
I actually think that Viral Garden does fairly well in the above areas. Especially in “blog brand” with the them you have come up with.
I would recommend the use of images to help draw in the reader to your posts (as you did on your last post). It also helps add a little relief as sometimes all text can seem a little daunting.
Also, the green type on green background can sometimes be a little difficult to read, but not terrible. Maybe going slightly lighter on your type will help.
But overall–I think you are in the “doing it right” camp. And I’m not just saying that because I like you.
BTW, if anyone else wants a few tips–I’m happy to take a look and provide some brief commentary/suggestions. Our clients usually pay big bucks for this kind of thing so take advantage of it while you can.

By: Mack Collier

Mack Collier — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 14:13:49 +0000

GREAT post David! I am constantly worried about the design of my blog, and the fact that Blogger starts with such crappy templates doesn’t help matters. I love the look of Logic+Emotion, very clean and ‘easy on the eyes’.
I’m going to have to print out this post and go attack the Garden’s template this weekend