We're Moving!

This is the last post on this blog account. We are moving our blog directly on to our website. You can find it here - http://www.hellotarte.com/blog. All previous posts are being transferred as well so you can always go back and read them later.

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Inspiration Monday

June 1, 2009

Unbelievable that we are now in the 6th month of 2009. The days, weeks and months seem to be flying by quicker than ever before. Don't we all need to stop and reflect and be inspired? Here is my inspiration images for this week. I decided to do an inspiration board this week. Let me know what you think.

Pugs (ready for my second one) • Vintage Chris Craft (hopefully I can get one of these for my husband one day) • Unusual veils • Treehouses (would love to have one for days I need to escape) • iMac • Field of poppies

Do you need inspired?
Let Tarte Advertising inspire you and your business.


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Cincinnati TasteCasting

So Tarte Advertising has taken on another project - Cincinnati TasteCasting - and we are lovin' it! This is a concept that was started just a few short months ago in Columbus, Ohio, and I have decided to head up the team in Cincinnati.

TasteCasting combines socially networked people and the social media platforms and applications they use to help establishments build awareness, announce grand openings, introduce new menu items, distribute special offers and encourage people to visit the establishment.

MARIBELLE CAKERY CINCINNATI
So, in Cincinnati, the TasteCasting Team has grown to over 30 team members in just a few short weeks and last night, we had our first official tasting at Maribelle Cakery in Reading. If you haven't had a cake from Maribelle Cakery, then you haven't lived. It is absolutely amazing!

Last night, 10 of us had the wonderful opportunity to meet at Maribelle and taste 4 different flavors of their new cupcakes. These cupcakes are something that have been in the development stages for nearly 6 months and just recently did Maribelle start selling them to the public. They are currently selling the cupcakes by the dozen ($38) and within the next few weeks you will be able to order them online from their website and have them delivered directly to your doorstep. Does it get any better than that?


Owner of Maribelle Cakery, Cristina Gutierrez starts by filling the team in on a little history of Maribelle and the cupcakes themselves. She tells us that her and her husband, Larry Brown, have owned Maribelle for 5 years now and just last year they converted the kitchen of Maribelle to a Kosher kitchen and everything in the cakery is now Kosher Dairy. This year, they added cupcakes to the menu and so far, they have been a huge hit.

Maribelle Cakery is known to many in Cincinnati as the premier cakery for your wedding day dessert. With some of the most elaborate designs and details that go on the cakes, it is no wonder Maribelle holds such an amazing repuation.

Recently Maribelle Cakery was named the Official Cakery Of the Cincinnati Opera! Wow - what an honor for them!

So, the 4 cupcakes that we tasted tonight were like nothing I have tried before - and I have sampled my fair share of cupcakes. In fact, I can't help but run in to Magnolia Bakery every time I am in NYC and my sister just recently hand delivered Sprinkles Cupcakes to me all the way from LA (what a sweet sister)!

The four flavors were:
• Southern Belle - Red Velvet cake with cream cheese icing

• Coco-Lava - Orange butter cake filled with Belgian dark chocolate truffle

• The Diva (created specially for the Cincinnati Opera) - White Chocolate cake filled with Madagascar vanilla bean opera cream

• Mocha Java - Dark Chocolate cake filled and topped with a Mocha icing


If I had to pick my favorite, I would actually have to pick two - the Diva and Southern Belle. I really can't decide which was better. I am not a huge chocolate lover (weird, I know), but the Mocha Java one was really quite tasty! I had asked the team what their favorite's were and everyone had differing opinions. However, I would have to say that Victor Imperi (@vimperi on Twitter) had my favorite quote of the night:

"Choosing my favorite flavor of cupcakes from Maribelle Cakery is like having to choose your favorite child - impossible."

Just a bit ago, Victor actually tweeted that he had been thinking about that statement since he left the tasting last night and now thinks it might even be harder than choosing your favorite child. :)

A huge, special thanks to Maribelle Cakery and Tina Gutierrez for allowing us to visit their Cakery and sample some of the goodness that is called cupcakes. I think everyone went home with full bellies, sugar-coated tongues and a desire to eat cupcakes from Maribelle Cakery on a daily basis.

This was a fun experience for the whole team and we are all looking forward to getting together for more tastings in the very near future. Next up - Whole Foods in Deerfield Towne Center.


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Stand out.

This is a quote that I saw the other day. It reminds me of us - Tarte Advertising - and what we do.

"Great design stands out in a crowd."

We are different. We are abnormal.
And that's okay - because Tarte Advertising stands out in a crowd.

Want your business to stand out? Give us a call and let us help you "be abnormal".

Inspiration Monday

Monday is here again - and it came really fast! Today was so busy that I almost didn't get to this blog post - but better late than never.

May 18, 2009

Vintage Victory Garden Posters









Couture Fashion










Colorful Sushi







Japanese Fabric Patterns









Adirondack Chairs









What are you going to let inspire you this week?

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Website Wednesday - Ecojot

Sometimes I like "cute".
Sometimes I like "flowery".
Sometimes I like "bright & colorful".
Well, with Ecojot, have found all of this and more in a website design.











I will admit, some of the navigation is a little tricky on this site. However, if I look at the site only for how visually appealing it is to me, I heart this site. True, I may be a bit biased because of my obsession with all things paper, but the illustrations and the designs on all the products are fab! I have now even gone as far as setting my desktop wallpaper to one of their designs (click here for the wallpapers you can use).

Lastly, in case you are wondering - their actual products are great! Last week, I was at Eco Chic, an event that Cincinnati Magazine puts on at Marvin's Organic Gardens in Lebanon, Ohio, and each person received a goodie bag with an Ecojot notepad in it!

*PS - In case you didn't get it from their name, they are "eco-friendly" - something that is very important to me. Their products are 100% post-consumer recycled paper products.

What do you think about Ecojots website?

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Inspiration Monday

One of my friends' from college started something on her blog called Inspiration Monday. I absolutely loved the idea and asked if I could borrow the idea for our Tarte Blog. She so graciously is allowing me to give it a try here. Check out her blog for all her creative ideas - http://blog.eleveneleven.net/. Thank you Jamila!

Inspiration Monday - May 11, 2009

Designer Duct Tape







Retro Mini-Grill










Tea Time by Jorine Oosterhoff









Gorgeous wallpaper designs by Grow House Grow















Plumero Font















What inspires you?

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Website Wednesday - Agatha Group

I figured up that I am on the internet - researching, emailing, searching, reading, talking, Tweeting, Facebooking, etc at least 50 hours a week - if not more. I am always coming across websites that I love. Because my background is in design, the first thing that catches my eye about a site is the actual design - what it looks like. I thought it might be fun to do Website Wednesday every week and feature a site that I have found that I like - for one reason or another.

This first one, I am not even sure how I came across it. I am not a huge fan of Flash sites (from an SEO side of things), but there are a lot of Flash sites that are visually amazing. This is one of them. Plus, when you refresh this homepage - it changes each time!! My favorite is the little black rain drops falling.

AGATHA GROUP











I am also not a huge fan of music on sites, but I love this one. So smooth and it works with the design so nicely. The background images - big and bold - are amazing throughout the site.

The company, which I am assuming is some sort of creative agency, is in Columbia. I wish I could read more on the site - about who they are and who their clients are.

Let me know what you think about it. We love to hear other's opinions!

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We're Abnormal

I can't tell you how many times I have had people call us and say, "I am looking for a new website. I was working with this other person and they are just so unreliable that I think I need to find someone new. It takes them weeks - if not months - to get changes made to my site. Is this normal?"

If this is "normal", then Tarte Advertising is "abnormal" and that is fine by me. One of our top priorities in our business is customer service - making sure our clients are taken care of in a timely manner to the best of our abilities. It is sad to us to get these phone calls because the potential client has a bad taste in their mouth because someone else wasn't responsible enough to take care of the job the right way, the first time.

When a client asks us for changes to their website, we let them know when those changes will be made, and most of the time the changes are complete before the deadline. We set deadlines and we stick to them.

The next time your web developer or designer or copywriter or PR person can't give you a timeline and says they will "get to it soon", nail them down. Make them give you a solid deadline and when they can't meet that deadline, think really hard about if this is the right person to be working with. If you decide they aren't, give Tarte Advertising a call and let us show you the difference.

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Heart and Soul

We recently lost a client that we not only enjoyed working with, but a client that we felt had a lot of potential. There was a relatively small budget involved, but we had stretched the numbers as far as we possibly could and we were happy with the results up to that point.

For a day or two after the break-up, I thought a lot about the situation and was frustrated by the questions that kept popping up in my head.
Could we have done something different?
Did we think of the best ideas?
Should we have gone a different route?
Did we enlist the best possible partners for the account?
I went back over the past two months work (that is how long we had been working with the client) and what I came up with is this:
Tarte Advertising put their heart and soul in to that account. Everyone on the account worked very hard. We had really great ideas and I am certain that the plan that was put in place, was the best plan possible for the budget. Also, I am positive that the team that was in place, was the best team for that specific account. I do not feel bad about our work - in fact, I am really proud of everyone that worked with us on this account and the work we all did. Great job team!

We are aware that people's money is very tight right now - including ours! But no matter what the economy looks like or what the client's budget looks like, you can be sure that when you hire Tarte Advertising to work with you on your business, we will give you 100% and we will put our heart and soul in to every project!

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PR and your expectations

At Tarte Advertising, we feel that Public Relations is one of the services, that when executed properly, can make great differences to a business's bottom line. However, if expectations are out of line, then the positive can be masked with negativity.

I read a great article not too long ago from Mike Schutlz. I found it to be extremely informative for our business and thought that it had some great points to share on PR and the expectations that you should have. Below is a bit of recap of what Schultz talked about along with my own thoughts/ideas that we have gained over the past few years.

Truly, you can't know what to expect in advance with PR. Sometimes a PR campaign can take off immediately with one release or pitch, and other times it can take upwards of 6 months. You can land a story in the Wall Street Journal or on CNN.com, and not have any leads from it. You can land a small blip in your local paper and generate several sales from it.

However, there are a few things that can help to determine the success, or failure, of a PR campaign.

1. How interesting is your story? This will make a big difference to the media, prospects and buyers. Take a step back and asses how interesting your content really is to people other than you.

2. Are you (or your agency) implementing your PR tactics properly? Are you talking to the right people, sending releases and by-lines to the proper journalists at the right time? Avoiding mistakes is crucial in determining success in your campaign.

3. Are you being realistic with the financial investment of your plan? Many people think that PR is free, but that is not exactly true. It is true that you don't pay for a story in the paper the way you pay for an ad in the paper. However, if you have only given your agency enough to write and distribute one local release, then your chances of gaining something, such as a lead or a sale, are minimal. If you budget enough to put together a strategic plan that will last over a period of time, then success is much greater possibility. Work with your agency to figure out how much is realistic to be investing. If you are doing it yourself, be realistic about the time you need to invest. Your time is money.

4. Have you been working at your campaign for long enough? Stay at it - sometimes it can take a while. Keep in mind that even though you land one or two stories, it doesn't mean you are going to get your next two immediately. Be patient and stick with it.

5. What kind of relationship do you or your agency have with the media? In the PR world, relationships are everything! Realize that journalists at most media outlets are receiving many releases and pitches every day. A good agency or PR pro will know who to contact and how to contact them. How will they know this? Because they have built a relationship with the media and know what they are looking for.

6. When you look at the rest of your marketing efforts, how strong are they? How often are you blogging? Are you sending out regular email newsletters? Is your sales collateral and website up to date? PR typically can't stand alone without other marketing efforts (we believe it goes the other way too - marketing can't work without some PR). Why spend time and money driving traffic to your website when the content is dated and no longer pertains?

7. How strong is your brand? A publication is much more likely to publish a study from Harvard Business School than from Jimbob's Community College. This is something that can take time, especially if you are a small business, but the more you work at it and the more you keep the media informed on what you are doing, the easier this will get.

8. Consider what else is going on in the media at the time of distribution or the event you are promoting. Is there an Election taking place that is filling most pages of the paper? Is someone important coming to town that the media will need to interview? Is the economy in a slump (this is important for right now)? Has the media published a similar story recently? All of these things should be taken in to consideration.

Above all, do not expect to know what is going to happen or how it will all pan out. You have to just jump in with two feet and go for it. PR can, and will, work and knowing what to expect will help you not become frustrated when things don't go the way you thought they would.

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25 Things You MIght Not Know About Tarte Advertising, Inc. (and its owners)

1. It was started in 2006 by two best friends, Audrey Keyes & Jen Casperson.

2. When Tarte opened their doors, they only had one client, Marvin's Organic Gardens.

3. Tarte's first promotion involved baking lemon tart's and hand delivering them to potential clients. People thought they were so good that a few even asked Tarte to quote out making more for them.

4. When Audrey & Jen moved into their first office, before even unpacking everything, they realized that there wasn't going to be enough room and they had to move into a new space that same day.

5. Audrey & Jen both have degrees in Graphic Design. Jen from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and Audrey from Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia.

6. Neither Audrey nor Jen had ever truly designed a website before opening Tarte Advertising.

7. The most popular service at Tarte Advertising is website design.

8. Tarte Advertising helped two of their small business clients hit the $1 MIllion in sales in 2008.

9. Tarte Advertising is an all Mac-based office. Every computer in their offices are Macs.

10. On "Bring Your Dog To Work Day" in 2008, there were 2 pugs and 1 mini dauchston in the office having a blast!

11. The name "Tarte" was a name that Jen dreamed one night. It doesn't have any "real" meaning to the word.

12. Audrey has a 4 year old daughter, Ainsley, a husband, Rick, and a 6 year old pug, Sophie. Jen has a boyfriend, Phil, and a 14 year old shitzu, Sophie. They both had their Sophie-dogs before they even knew each other.

13. Audrey always knew she wanted to have her own business. Jen never thought about it before she met Audrey.

14. Tarte Advertising's two favorite statements are "do the right thing" and "be proactive".

15. There is almost always music playing in the offices at Tarte. Sometimes it is Kanye, or Asia, or Britney. Sometimes it might be A Flock of Seagulls. Always a great variety.

16. Jen's favorite part of her job is designing for a client that has given Tarte a blank slate to design with.

17. Audrey's favorite part of her job is brainstorming creative ways to market the client's products/services.

18. You can almost always find Rice Crispy treats in the kitchen at Tarte Advertising.

19. One of the most interesting and unique client's that Tarte has ever worked with is Justin Poole Sculpture. JPS is a mannequin designer and was featured on Dirty Jobs while Tarte was working with them.

20. The newest service that Tarte Advertising is offering is Social Media Management and it is quickly becoming one of the most popular.

21. Tarte changed its branding completely after a year and half in business. It was well worth the time and energy.

22. Tarte offers an incredible internship for college students during the summer. It is a hands-on internship and even includes going on field trips to places like local printers and on photo-shoots.

23. Audrey's younger sister, Whitney, works for Tarte a few days a week.

24. Tarte Advertising has a pool of about 20 different freelance designers all over the country that they work with on various projects.

25. Jen and Audrey both agree that starting Tarte Advertising was one of the best things they have ever done in their life and are very excited for what the future holds for Tarte.

It Takes Time

If you are just starting to do some advertising for your business, or even if you have been doing it for a while and are just starting a new campaign, one critical thing to keep in mind is that "it takes time". It takes time for people to take notice of your efforts and then once they do, it takes time for them to react to your call to action. Unless you are offering something that no one else anywhere offers, that is free and normally costs a lot, or is something that your target needs immediately because of unexpected circumstances, then don't expect instant results. It takes much more than running one ad in the paper or running 1 day of radio spots. It takes time. Think about all the ads you see and hear every day. How many of them do you actually react to immediately - after seeing or hearing it once? If you need help figuring out how to advertise and what to actually expect from your investment, call Tarte Advertising, Inc. We will help you put together a strategic, realistic plan for your business or campaign - but it still takes time.

Make It Count

In the past, we have had small businesses come to us and say, “I have $1000 – what can you do for me”. When this happened, we had to think twice and really consider the question. It wasn’t whether or not we could do something with their money, but rather, can Tarte Advertising, Inc. get a return off the money that the client was investing.

Tarte Advertising wants to make a difference for our clients – that is our goal – and if we do not think it is achievable, we will let you know. It is only fair.

If we take our client’s $1000 and purchase online ad space or we take our client’s $1000 and do a small direct mailer – will the client gain something from it? Will they get new customers? Will they sell more products? No matter who it is and what their needs are, we want to be sure that we are making it count – for everyone involved.

Do What Makes You Money

Let’s start with this statement: You are in business to make money – to make a living. For most people in business, this is the main goal, or at least ONE of the main goals.

You have a passion for what you do – which is a great thing. But, does your passion actually make you money? Is your passion one of the key areas in your business that is bringing in dollars and enabling you to receive a weekly paycheck?

If you are finding yourself in the same boat that many are in right now with the economy, loosing money or just not making what you were a year ago, maybe it is time for you to take a look at your services or products and figure out exactly which ones are making money and which ones aren’t. For some, this can be a very difficult and eye-opening experience because you may find out that the one thing in your business that you truly love – your passion – may not be making you any money. Actually, it could be making you lose money.

Once you go through your products and services (and possibly even employees) and find what is making you money and what isn’t making you money, the next step is the hardest. You must take action and do something about the things that are not making you money. In times like these, for many, major adjustments must be made in order to stay in business.

Think about this example. Nancy had a card shop that she sold her homemade cards in. Making cards was her passion. Even though she never sold tons of her cards, she still loved doing it and was convinced that one day her cards would “catch on”. Because of this, she also had to sell other designer’s cards, small gift items, specialty paper for scrap-booking, and miscellaneous nick-knacks. Nancy had never really figured the exact time and cost that went in to each card that she made. She just priced them competitively with the other cards she sold. When Nancy’s business started struggling, and she had some extra time on her hands, she sat down and figured up her best and worst selling products and also figured the real cost of her own cards that she was making. The results were astounding to Nancy. She found that the price of cards she was making needed to be increased by nearly $2.00 each in order to make money off of them. However, if Nancy were to mark them up that much they would be the most expensive cards in the shop, and Nancy knew that her cards wouldn’t sell for those prices. Even though making cards was her passion, the other reason that she had the card shop in the first place, was to make money. If Nancy continued to dump money in to making her own cards, her business would not only continue to struggle, but would eventually fail. The hard decision was made and Nancy stopped making cards. The extra money that she was using on her own cards, she took and put in to advertising. Within three months, Nancy was able to hire Tarte Advertising, Inc to build a website and start running some ads/promotions in a few of the local publications, something she had never done before. It wasn’t an overnight, quick fix, but after 8-9 months, Nancy was definitely able to tell a difference. It was a tough decision, but she knew she had to do it if she wanted to stay in business. Nancy is still hoping that once things pick back up with the economy she will be able to start making and selling her cards again.

If your goal is to make money, do the things that make you money – or do something different.

Time for a makeover!

When you look at your marketing materials for your business, how do you feel about them? Are they tired and worn out? Do they represent who you are the best way they possibly could? Are you in need of an update – a fresh look?

Take a good hard look at what you are using to promote your business. Look at everything from your logo to your business cards to your ads and your website. Make sure they are the best representation of your brand and your business.

If they aren't then maybe it is time for a makeover – or even a full, face lift. What worked 10 years ago, might not work anymore. Don’t let your potential customers get the wrong impression of who you are, just because you haven’t kept your “looks” up-to-date.

Not sure if your materials are out of date? Take a look at your competition and see what they are doing. Ask people around you that you trust to give you honest opinions. Find a great agency (like Tarte Advertising, Inc) that will help you assess the situation and offer you suggestions of what direction to move in.

If you were looking tired and worn, wouldn't you want a makeover too?

Take A Look At Your Competition

When you’re in it – you’re in it deep. It is hard to see out of it – when you’re in it that deep. You are good at what you do – and you know it. What you are doing is great, if not brilliant. But sometimes we need to come up for air, and look around at what everyone else is doing and assess the situation.

We have all heard people say that they are “too deeply connected” or “too involved” or “too close to the situation” to see what everyone else is seeing. Truly, that is the case in so many small businesses. They are extremely busy, taking on every role they can in their small business, and they can’t, or don’t have the time, to look around and see what everyone else is looking at. This is a big problem that we have seen time and time again. You must, not only take a peek at your competition, but you need to study them. You need to know what their branding looks like, where they are advertising, what information they have on their website, what their showroom looks like, who are their customers, etc. The more you know about them, the better your chances of beating them to the punch.

You can start by doing a SWOT Analysis. This helps you look at your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It forces you to figure out what you are good at, what you aren’t good at and what your competition is doing that you aren’t. Don’t be discouraged by the results – or boastful if your analysis looks exceptionally positive. This is a learning experience that is meant to help you “see the light”. Once you complete the analysis, you will know what you need to work on and can set goals to get where you need to be, and that is a much better place to be than sitting in the dark not knowing what and who is going on around you.

Open your eyes. Look around. Be aware and adjust.

Too afraid to do this on your own, let Tarte Advertising assist. We will work through the SWOT Analysis with you and help you decide what your goals and priorities should be in taking your business to the next level.

"Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance"

Growing up, and even still today as I consider myself grown, my father loved to spit out quotes.

“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”.
“Remember, you are a Duren” (that is my maiden name).
“Bloom where you are planted”.
“Prior planning prevents poor performance.”

I have heard these, and many more of them, hundreds, if not thousands of times in my 30-something years. Now that I own my own business and have my own family, I find it very interesting and even touching, that I not only remember these quotes from my father, but I am putting them in to play.

In my business, planning ahead is crucial and poor performance is not accepted nor tolerated. If my father hadn’t taught me this a long time ago through a simple quote, I would have learned it by now. If you plan ahead and have all your ducks in a row, your performance will be greater than if you didn’t plan ahead.

I know this isn’t always the simplest thing to do. How many things do you have on your to-do list – 20? 50? More? There is always something immediate that needs to be done – bills to pay, emails to write, phone calls to make, etc. But when you take the time to sit down and make a plan, to plan ahead, you will be amazed at what will happen to that to-do list. Somehow, it seems to almost magically shorten itself – very quickly. You figure out your priorities and what items can wait to be dealt with. You look at the long term and what needs to be done now to ensure that your goals are met. You are able to delegate to others. You can breathe.

Marketing, advertising and PR require prior planning in order to assure the best ROI possible. It is something we work very hard at with our clients and we have seen it pay off many, many times. Planning ahead and knowing what is coming up before it is even here can be extremely effective in attracting new customers, increasing your sales, staying on budget and elevating your brand. One of the optimal ways that we do this with our clients is to create a full marketing plan that details all advertising, marketing and PR opportunities that will take place during a given time frame (usually a year) and how much each of those line items will cost. The benefits to having this in place are extraordinary and abundant.

I know you are busy, but time and time again we have seen what prior planning will do – help to prevent poor performance. Take the time. You are worth it. Your business is worth it. Your employees are worth it. And your bottom line will show it.

“Prior planning prevents poor performance”.

10 Reasons To Use An Agency - especially Tarte Advertising, Inc.

1. Tarte believes that people should do what they are good at and not try to do everything. Let us take care of the advertising, marketing and PR so that you can do what you are good at – running your business.

2. It can and will save you money in the long run.

3. We have resources and contacts that you need to help grow your business.

4. You have enough to do without worrying about negotiating rates with themedia.

5. We are great at what we do and we want to make you look great too.

6. We will help you stay on target, on budget and on time.

7. You won’t need to meet with or answer calls from sales reps anymore – we will take care of that for you.

8. We keep up with the trends in your industry to make sure that you are on top of things.

9. We keep up with the trends in the advertising industry to make sure that your advertising is the most effective.

10. We are experts at what we do.

Advertising is NOT going away - despite the economy

The past few weeks have brought about a fear to many Americans – many of whom are business owners. We are seeing businesses tightening their payrolls, if not closing their doors for good. Am I concerned – yes. But do I think we (Tarte) are going anywhere – no. And neither is advertising as a whole industry. Will some of our tried and true advertising methods be more difficult to utilize – absolutely, but we are creative people, a creative agency, and we will find creative (and effective) methods to help our clients through this unstable time in history. We are going to have to think outside the box a bit more and I believe that viral marketing, guerrilla marketing and WOM is going to become even more important than it has already become in the past decade. There will be some, if not many, who will not be able to ride it out, but Tarte believes that “prior planning prevents poor performance” and we are planning now with our clients. 2009 is right around the corner and we know things will be different for us and our clients than what we have seen and experienced in 2008. However, we are thinking and acting positively about these changes. We are excited about brainstorming new campaigns and digging down deep for new answers and methods. We love being creative and this is just another extension of it for Tarte. Other businesses may be leaving the market, but Tarte is here to stay and we believe, so is advertising.