Permissions - managing your social networks

Check out an informative video clip from Villager Tanya (http://www.tanyasmithonline.com/)

Logo Contest Winner - Jessica!

Thanks to all that voted in our logo contest!

We had a slim victory (2 votes), but the final prize goes to #7b which was submitted by one of our new villagers Jessica  of http://www.weaverstudioanddesign.com/home/

Thanks to all others who entered the contest. We will be tweeting out your sites and sending you a prize from Nudge Village for participation.

Note:As a side note, the Chief Nudger had selected #7, but couldn’t decide which one. (-:

 

Logo Contest - VOTE!

We’ve gotten all the submissions for logos - we hope! So, if you don’t see yours on here please let us know! We want a chance to vote on all the entries.

How do you vote?

Select the number you like best and submit it as a comment.

Can you choose more than one logo?

Yes, but you must rank them using a #1, #2, #3 ranking system. In other words, you can’t vote two entries as #1.

When does voting end?

Voting ends Saturday, April 14 at midnight EST.

Here are the logos - vote away!

#1

#2

#3

 #4

#5

 #6

#7 - you can divide this out into an 7a, 7b, 7c, or 7d response if you’d like to select one from the four entries

 #8

#9

 

Logo Contest - calling all graphic designers!

It’s been a while since we’ve had a contest, but now we are ready to hold a new logo contest to replace the Nudge Village branding!

Please let all your graphic artist friends know about this opportunity. Even those that don’t win will still get free marketing by entering into the contest!

Background

When Nudge Village started in November 2010, we put out a posting asking for feedback on logos. Here’s the post - http://www.nudgevillage.com/daily-nudge/2010/12/3/selecting-a-logo-need-village-help.html.

A few of the villagers actually submitted a few of their own ideas as well!

At first we liked the look of a house in line with the “village” theme, but then realized we didn’t want to look too much like real estate. We also thought of a graphic with a group of people, but that started to get too complext.

So, we landed on this logo - some snails slowly inching their way forward - some leading, some following and some being carried.

We still like it, but think it is a good time to have a make-over.

What is our purpose?

• To promote entrepreneurship (including those that don’t think of themselves as entrepreneurs - artists, bloggers, photographers, etc.) and sharing ideas on how to keep acting on your ideas, marketing, business endeavors, etc. We also “nudge” each other to act on ideas, share tools and information and promote each other through many marketing avenues (online, offline, word of mouth, etc.)

Who is our target audience?

• We have a broad audience of people who are pursuing their passions and ideas separate from their employer (or maybe don’t have another employer). Artists, photographers, bloggers, coaches, consultants, product developers (shoes, jewelry, pillows), graphic designers, web developers, etc. We like variety - since we learn from variety.
• We actively promote a small group of people on http://www.nudgevillage.com in our Villager section.
• We also have a growing following on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

What we want in a logo?

• Conveys the “nudge” concept - the name conveys that this is a community (village), but we’d like to focus on the nudge concept in the logo.
• Simple and refined vs. complex- the logo will appear in Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, webpages, stationary, posters, business cards, etc. We’d like it to look clear and straightforward regardless of the size.
• Use the words “Nudge Village”- the logo must contain the words “Nudge Village.” The graphic may be attached to the words on the words may use font/colors. Creative license - if you think you’ve come upon a brillant idea that doesn’t fit this - submit it anyway. We might be thinking in a box. (-:
• Transparent - the logo must have a transparent background so that it may be used with multiple background colors and in different mediums.
• Not a banner - the logo should be something that can be added to a banner, not exist as a banner. So, the default size probably won’t be 500 X 300 pixels. But, for now we won’t put a pixel limit on it.
• No stock photos - not interested in having stock photos as part of the logo. Stock graphics may be appropriate, but not stock photos.

Contest Rules

• Multiple entries allowed.
• Nudge Village rights to the graphic - You must allow Nudge Village to have rights to the graphic - if you are a winner!
• Format - Prefer jpeg for the contest. If you win, you must provide the graphic source files and multiple formats for use in different print and online mediums (jpeg, psd, bitmap, tiff) - you know these better than we do. (-:
• No stock photos.

What do I submit and How do I submit?

• Submit a jpeg file of your logo to info@nudgevillage.com
• Include your contact information in the email:
  • Name
  • Preferred Email address
  • Company (optional)
  • Website (optional)
  • Twitter Handle (optional)
  • Pinterest Name (optional)
  • Facebook Group or Like pages you might have promoting your capabilities (optional)
  • Other Social tools that you’d like us to be made aware of so we can market you.

When does the contest end?

• No joke - April 1, 2012

How will they be judged?

• All logos will be posted to the same page - a Nudge Village page or related site.
• Viewers will vote on the logos.
• Chief Nudger will select the final logo based upon viewer feedback and personal preference (hey, it is what it is!)

What is the prize?

• Winner
  • Cash - $300
  • Nudge Village Highlight on website - http://www.nudgevillage.com
  • Facebook Publicity - ongoing
  • Twitter Publicity - each week for two months
  • Pinterest Publicity - we’ll “pin” all the graphics from your personal website and then add any you add over the next two months.
  • Squidoo Publicity - will write up a Squidoo page about you and your business.
• All Participants
  • Book by Nudge Village author of your choice (or random)
  • Facebook Publicity
  • Twitter Publicity - one week
  • Pinterest Publicity - we’ll “pin” graphics from your site for one week.

Other Questions?

• If you still have a question, please email info@nudgevillage and we’ll update this entry.

We are excited to see what comes from this contest! Let the creativity begin!

Mobile Goals - taking resolutions on the road

Steer the Ship

Great article if you work for a company or on your own.

Nudge Village - upcoming news!

Check out what we will be doing in the next couple of months!

13 Behaviors of High-Trust Leaders

The EntreLeadership Podcast - Dave Ramsey

If you don’t know about it already, check out the EntreLeadership Podcast from Dave Ramsey.

It’s really a great new series.

One of the Nudge Villagers told me about it a few months ago and I downloaded one podcast, enjoyed it, and then got busy with life.

However, this week I drove a few hours to a meeting for work and I downloaded a whole slew of these podcasts for the road.

I expected to hear Dave Ramsey talk, but most of the podcasts were interviews with great leaders and authors like the president of Chick-fil-A, Jim Collins (author of Good to Great and related books) and a few other people that were obvious motivators/experts in their fields.

Zig Ziglar often talked about turning your time in your car into an “automobile university” because of the focus and reflection that can take place in those moments (or hours) of commuting, traveling, etc.

Lots of good leadership stuff out there and this is another great resource to take with you on the road.

http://www.daveramsey.com/entreleadership/podcast

Innovation and Market Shifts - at warp speed

Recently, Adobe announced that it would no longer work to support Flash on mobile devices. On October 3, 2011, it announced it was also going to acquire PhoneGap - a tool that is used to take one piece of content and output it to all the major mobile device platforms.

Let’s not assume that Adobe is going to take over the world, but they’ve done a great job keeping up with the needs of the market. (Remember, Adobe acquired the Macromedia Suite - Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash - which has been the primary suite used by web developers around the world over the last 10-15 years).

Adobe isn’t the only company fighting to stay on top of the market. Wordpress (blog, website and content management technology) has continually added templates (including purchaseable templates created by power users) and newer blog technologies like Tumblr and Posterous are even more forward building in widgets/gadgets that make their sites perfectly situated for leveraging social networks and information sharing with like minded individuals. Think Twitter with larger text limits. Drupal and Joomla are now the primary sites for serious web developers and constantly innovate with their templates.

Blogger, not to be outdone, has just added a powerful dynamic template. The new twist allows any user of the page the ability to display the page in a way that meets their personal viewing needs.

Pinterest has taken the world by storm as a kind of Delicious (popular bookmarking site) on steriods - you save what you like and others can view what you like and “re-pin” items they like. Driven by pictures vs. text links. Great way to share ideas, get more exposure to your product and ultimately find more business contacts.

LinkedIn, the online networking site, has made great strides with the groups and sharing features. I posted a job posting to a group of designers and was able to provide a friend 30 applicable resumes within 48 hours of the posting.

So, what of all this innovation and keeping up with the market?

No one can keep up with it all. What is popular today may be outdone tomorrow.

Keep a few points in mind while navigating this landscape:

• K.I.S.S.- Keep it Simple Stupid. It’s time to go back to basics. Take out extraneous eye candy, complex designs, and convoluted implementation. The design needs to be simple for customers and for you…especially since you could be switching to different tools each year (or sooner).
• Don’t jump too fast! - See a flashy new tool? Want to jump in and use it for your website? Not so fast. Create a test site/account and fill it with fake content. Test it with other gadgets, find out how it looks on your mobile device, see how it works with your day-to-day use. Make a list of all the functionality that is there AND that seems to be missing. Compare it to your other site or product. Is it really better? Is it better in some ways and not in others? What are you willing to give up to have it? We all have our own list of technical requirements and sometimes something new won’t help you.
• Tools aren’t necessarily the answer- we’ve got hundreds of technology tools to choose from for websites, project management, photo management, social networking, online communities, photo editing, and more… I used to work for a boss that had me try out new tools every day of the week. It started to detract from my day job. I started to realize that tools are there to assist us, but they aren’t the point. They should support your business. Not the other way around - unless you are selling tools.

The market will keep shifting thanks to continued innovation. That will bring great possibilities for us all. Something that will best meet your needs may not have been invented yet, but is soon forthcoming.

The key is to stay true to your roots while being willing to test new ideas and technologies, but remember that you don’t have to use them.

Good luck!