Miss New Mexico Website

We recently designed a site for the Miss New Mexico Organization.  We were happy to assist Nicole Miner in her quest for the crown.

Nicole Miner, Miss New Mexico 2009, is twenty-three years old, a music education major and will be graduating from the University of North Texas in the fall of 2010.  She will further her education and obtain a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of New Mexico.

In addition to providing community service to cities, towns and villages within the State of New Mexico, she will be promoting her personal platform and the Miss America National Platform.  Her platform is saving Lives: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

We would like to wish Nicole luck in January at the National Competition.  Sing your heart out little lady! 

CARNM Site Launches

We launched a new site for the Commercial Association of REALTORS New Mexico (CARNM) today!  Very cool site with lots of fun features.  Check out the events calender and integration with the Commercial Realtors property listing site.  We also designed a fancy new logo for them!  Looking good CARNM.

The CARNM is an association of REALTORS® and real estate affiliates specializing in commercial real estate throughout the state of New Mexico.

The New and Improved Look

There is a lot of talk about re-branding these days. It might simply be because companies are starting to realize they need to stay current or because all the big dogs are doing it.  Fortune magazine has been featuring several companies and analyzing the impact of the new and hopefully improved brands.  So is your brand just a new and improved logo or is it more than that? A re-brand needs to have a story or a motivation behind it.  Why are you re-branding?  What do you want to say about your new product or the new you?  Have you recently merged with another company and your company is adding services to your list of capabilities?  Or you would like to get customers to notice you again?
Whatever your reason for re-branding might be, make sure it is true and you stick to it!  Be sure the new brand is one your customers can trust.  Your brand is so much more than the color, the font, and the shape of the icon next to your name.  It is the service you provide, the quality of the product you sell, and the feeling your customers get when they interact with your company.  For example, William Cervantes Enterprises, Inc., just completed re-branding to parallel the service he provides and the product he produces.  William Cervantes is a commercial and residential builder who prides his company on outstanding customer service and detailed craftsmanship.  Every project is clean, simple, classy, and never lacking details from start to finish.  Now his logo and collateral materials reflect those values as well.  His new and improved look is representative of his professionalism and quality.

Your Investment

National averages show that businesses are spending 2% to 10% of their annual gross revenues on marketing.  Hard times call for desperate measures, but now is not the time to cut your marketing budget.  If anything, now is the time to get out there. The recession has caused the advertising dollar to go further and you can get more for your money now.  Ads in all media forms are cheaper and with the Internet, there are so many ways to reach your audience for free.  Take that 2% and plan to make sure you are out in front of your customers now so when things turn around, they know you are still there, they know they can trust you, and they wouldn’t think to go anywhere else!

It is hard to spend money on expenses you don’t see immediate results for, but now is the worst time to stop investing in your company!  “If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it is an investment,” says Seth Godin.  Don’t forget that your marketing investment is also 100% tax deductible at the end of the year.

Start Marketing!  Start Investing!

New Site Launched

We just launched a new site for William Cervantes Enterprises!   Check out the goods. Very cool, clean, classy site!

William Cervantes Enterprises, Inc. (WCE) is a full-service, minority-owned general contractor.  Large or small, residential or commercial-WCE does it all with a level of quality, commitment and accountability you won’t find elsewhere.

Our Intern Goes to College

Samantha Ward, our fantastic intern, is off to college!  We want to wish her well and thank her for all she has done for us.  Samantha worked for Carristo over the last year learning the ways of marketing and design.  She is now attending NMSU and will be earning a degree in Graphic Arts with an emphasis in Photography.  Good Luck little lady we are here if you need us!

New GOODS!

Check out all the “new goods” we just posted to the site!  Lots of new logos and print materials.  We are currently working on several websites and will be sure to keep you posted on their launch dates!   Lots of good stuff happening for so many of our clients.   Thank you for the all the referrals and repeat customers.  Let us know what we can do you make you look good!

Here is one of our favorite new logos!

Client Quotes We Never Hear

This was sent to us today and we wanted to share!  Of course, we never hear anything like this from our awesome clients.  Hope it makes you smile as much as it made Amanda laugh and roll on the floor.

Notably foolish comments directed at a graphic designer every day of her life.

Making Customers for Life

How do you get a customer for life?  This is a story of how you go right past getting a satisfied customer and make a customer for life.  The other day I came out of a lunch meeting to find I had a completely flat tire.   I didn’t panic.  I grabbed my air compressor that my dad insisted I carry in the car at all times and filled the tire full.  I had bought the tires about seven months ago at Discount Tire where their policy has always been, if you have a flat, bring it in and we will fix it for free.

A very nice salesman met me in the parking lot as I pulled up to see what I needed. I just happened to get Joe the Manager!  Joe really was his name.  After I told him my story, he said it would be 45 minutes and I would be all fixed up and on my way.  Dang it – 45 minutes out of my day that I hadn’t planned on, but I had to get the tire fixed.  So, about 30 minutes into waiting Joe comes to get me and take me back to look at my tire.  There is a gash in the sidewall and he says they can’t fix it and I will need a whole new tire.  Forty-five minutes lost and $175 out of pocket.What a day.

Joe takes me inside and says he will get me all fixed up.  Joe then types in some numbers, looks up at me, and says, “You know what? We will just say it was road damage and take care of it for you today.” I told him he didn’t have to do that, but Joe said, “No, we will take care of it and get you out of here in 45 minutes, as promised.”  They did just that and made me a customer for life.

I will never look for tires anywhere else.  I think I have told this story to about 30 people, and now I’m telling you.  So, what are you doing to make a customer for life?

Happy Birthday Miss Amanda

Amanda in her Birthday Hat!

Happy Birthday to our favorite lady!  Miss Amanda Jones, as Monica likes to call her, will be turning the ripe old age of 29 today, along with her twin sister Ashley.  Happy Birthday to Ash too.  We hope you have a great day and an even better year!  Wow 29 you are so old.  Looking good in that hat.

Love you,

The Carristo Team