Social Media

Today, consumers are look to do business with companies which engage them in a conversation. Social media creates opportunities for those conversations. There is no one “software of social media standard”, but a collection of tools, with new ones being introduced daily which facilitate interactive user experiences, with opportunities for sharing, feedback and collaboration.

Social media is more than just marketing, it can be part of your customer service, and even service delivery. Our Social Media Services Include:

• Website – This is the vibrant center of your public image. We build websites you can manage and update on your own.

• Blogging Support – Your blog creates an on-going connection with your clients, prospects and the larger internet community. We can help with article research, topic suggestions or ghost writing.

• On-line article syndications – We have a list of approximately 25 on-line resources where we will submit your content to improve your visibility with search engines.

• Blog Seeding – We help you systematically build your on-line presence connecting you to other sites with similar audiences and topics.

• Social Networks Strategy – From established sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to some of the less well known, like Smaller Indiana and Friendfeed we help you decide on which tools to concentrate your efforts to connect with customers, build a following of loyal fans and increase traffic to your site.

• Social Media Management – We will teach you how to use productivity tools like TweetLater, HootSuite and PingFM to improve your social media strategy. We can set up your accounts and manage outbound content to help build your on-line brand.

• Press Releases–Yesterday’s newspaper is today’s birdcage liner, but the internet is forever. We will help you leverage to power of the internet to distribute you story.

• Electronic Newsletter to stay connected with clients, prospects and referral sources

Logos & More

Great Brands begin with a great logo, supported by consistent use of font, color, style and words. Let Roundpeg help you create a brand that is both memorable and meaningful to your customers.

Our services include:

• Company names and Domains – Brainstorming, research and testing

• Visual brands – Logos, colors, fonts an brand guidelines

• Tag lines – We help you craft the message to support your brand

• Printed collateral – Stationary, brochures, and direct mail
  

”Lorraine does an outstanding job helping new businesses get started – with a business plan process that makes sense. Lorraine has a unique ability to take painful processes, like business plans, and make them interesting and educational. Her guidance really helped us focus on the big picture, and my business is growing as a result.”

– K.Vanover, Reliance Technology

Biz Planning

When you set up on a long trip to an unfamiliar location, you need a map. The same is true for your business. To find the path to success, you need a Business Map, and we can help.

BusinessMap Services

• BusinessMap, a Workbook by Lorraine Ball for the Do-it-Yourselfer

• Business Plan Review, if you have a basic draft, and simply want feedback on what you have written

• Business Plan Writing services, in this interactive process we will work together to develop your plan

• Marketing Plan, a comprehensive market analysis, message and target development, along with a budget and planning calendar

• Marketing Calendar and Budget, a less formal annual action plan.

With books, seminars and one-on-one consulting, we will put you on the road to success!!

Web Design

There is no official standard or particular software which defines Web 2.0. It is simply a trend in web design which facilitates interactive user experiences, which include opportunities for information sharing, feedback and collaboration.

With simple web designs, blogs, surveys and targeted email, we can help you use the power of the web to create an interactive conversation with your clients and prospects.

Do you have a Web 2.0 strategy? If not, Roundpeg can help!

Our web projects start at $1,750, include design, first year hosting, and training so you can take over management of your site when we are done.

What people say

“Lorraine is a creative whiz. While some people talk about thinking outside the box, Lorraine is reinventing the box. If you are not getting the results you want from your marketing, give Lorraine a buzz and she’ll give your marketing a jolt.” -Drew Cameron (Owner at HVAC Sellutions)

Public Relations

PR is the glue which ties your marketing together. We help you craft consistent messages, weave them throughout your marketing, and distribute those messages to a range of media outlets to increases your visibility and reach. Our services include:

• Press Release – Development or distribution only

• Case Studies – With or without a corresponding press release

• Ghost Writing – Articles and blog posts
  

• Comprehensive Media Strategy – Development and execution
  

What people say

“With Lorraine ’s experience working in high places for such mega-corporations as Carrier and Conseco, she brings wealth of experience not normally possessed small marketing firms. Make no mistake, while the organization may be small, their efforts are very sharp and to the point. Many small marketing firms use a scatter-gun approach to marketing – hoping each shot will at least hit something, with precious little accountability built into the process. Roundpeg hires marksmen and they always hit what they shoot!”

Marla M. Williams, Managing Member,

ASSOCIATED IMAGES.

Bernard James Management Consultants receives traditional website from Roundpeg

by Erica Gardner

This was my very first project upon arriving at Roundpeg.  We started
doing all of our new websites in WordPress, but I was chosen to tackle our last traditional website for Bernard James Management Consultants.

The project was completed in both Microsoft Front Page and Macromedia Dreamweaver.  Now that we have switched over to using all WordPress websites, it allows the client to manage their content faster and easier.

Your Blog – Your Voice

When I first started blogging, I thought I needed to keep my personal and professional blogs separate.  I think many small business owners starting a blog, start out this way.  The best eventually learn if they are their business, they need to let who they are come through.

When I first started blogging,  I was afraid, my “personal voice” would be inappropriate for a business blog.  Over the last year, I have read countless blog posts – professional and personal by some of the best writers in the world.  The ones I enjoyed the most, blended their personality into their business.  As my social media mentor Kyle Lacy likes to say, they were authentic! They seemed approachable.

And so, slowly I have let little bits of me come through.   As I think about it now, my discomfort was really kind of odd.  What “business image” was I trying to protect?   At Roundpeg our style and personality is a little off beat.  We take what we do seriously, we just don’t take ourselves seriously.  I worked hard to build a brand which was authentic and approachable. From the logo and the colors to the informal office environment which includes an office cat, and a part time office dog, we want people to feel at home at Roundpeg.  And I am now comfortable with the idea that our blog, which is really just an extension of us, should reflect our personality

So if you are on 106th Street, in Carmel, stop by!   Come in through the kitchen, try not to step on Clyde our cat, and help yourself to a cup of coffee. ( If the pot is empty, feel free to make some.  The filters  on the right side, above the coffee pot).  And if you are not in the neighborhood, stop by our blog, say hello with a comment, and let us get to know you!

Improve your WordPress site with Plugins

Written by Amy Rowe

Plug-ins are great for WordPress. Just when you think you found something your WordPress theme can’t do… someone creates a plugin which enables the impossible!

Whether you want to sell items in a shopping cart, add audio to your pages, or just simply include a picture slideshow… we have found solutions by adding plug-ins to just about every site we create!

My Link Order is a plugin that I have continued to use on a regular basis with our Websites! Everyone knows that some templates are limiting and you need to find ways around their functionality. One specific site where the navigation along the top was to include only the broad categories and the navigation along the side was to include all the sub-pages.

By using the Page widget in the side bar – all the pages show! If you create links on the side not only can you pick and choose the pages you want to show, with My Link Order you can even put them in a specific order! It is as simple as dragging and dropping them into the order you want.

Interested? Download your free My Link Order Plugin here! Enjoy!

Great Navigation on WordPress

Written by Amy Rowe

We are in the final stages of completing another starter website, this time for Select Show Horses. The template we went with this time is to this point is my favorite due to the flash like navigation. From first appearance one would think that flash was used to create the sliding images.

This template shows how far we have come with our WordPress sites in just six months. These sites are looking more and more like high-tech websites and less like blogging software sites. We are very excited about the development of the programing.

Click here to visit Select Show Horses!