Latest Posts

Don’t set it and forget it – Social’s Greatest Mantra

Many businesses are still gun-shy when it comes to amplifying their marketing reach with social media. The excuses are many, and some are valid:

  • I’m too small to need social media.
  • It’s going to take too much time that I don’t have.
  • What if someone says they don’t like my product/services?
  • I just don’t see how ‘tweeting’ is going to make me money.
  • I already advertise.

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10 Steps to the Perfect Visual Brand Identity

Your logo is your company’s first impression to the world. Take the time to ensure it adequately represents who you are and what you promise.

  • Make sure your logo “reads” (meaning you can recognize what it is) on everything from a billboard to a postage stamp. It must also be flexible so it can be read clearly online, in video and on a mobile device.
  • Make sure your agency or design firm provides a black and white version, a greyscale version, a color version, vertical orientation, horizontal orientation and inverted (on black) execution; and the colors should be listed as CYMK and RGB. If you’re an established company, insist on spending the extra money and creating a ‘brand standards manual’ as well to make sure no one abuses your logo.

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Dan Estes Remembered

Dan L. Estes, co-founder of Starmark, Inc., 1978 in Chicago, and Starmark International, 1998 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was a self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneur” and boater. In all, he started over 25 companies and owned nearly as many boats, including several sports yachts ranging in size from 40′ – 50′.

He worked tirelessly at everything he did and was admittedly compulsive about organization and the design quality of his working and living environments, which are always uniquely functional and beautiful.
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9 Reasons to use Google Site Search

There are many ways to add that little search box onto your site, most CMSs have that function built in. But there can be some advantages of using the Google search box over what you have built in.

Before you begin, be aware that there are two different options for the Google search box, one is called Google Custom Search, and the other is Google Site Search. (more…)

Starmark Takes Green Personally

Each year at Starmark, we encourage our employees to pledge to reduce either their individual carbon footprint or the carbon footprint of their entire family in honor of Earth Day. Once again, I am proud to say that this year we had 100 percent participation! (more…)

5 things to consider before you test social coupons

Social coupons — deeply discounted offers without the scissors and ink stained fingers. With the success of LivingSocial and Groupon, social coupon sites are popping up all over. (more…)

Get your organization ready for the Social Web


Social Media Policies

You hear a lot of companies doing their best to jump on board constructing “social media policies” (SMP). SMPs provide the foundation that you must not only hire from, but mandate how anyone within your company who uses social media tools interacts in this environment. (more…)

Mobile Advertisting Effectiveness

With mobile ad spending on the rise, largely due to the increasing smartphone and tablet usage, so to is the effectiveness of mobile ads which are now beginning to outperform their online display counterparts. (more…)

Social Reporting

Social Reporting is the quantitative reporting of data within each of your social accounts. For instance, this would include Twitter followers, Facebook fans, LinkedIn followers, YouTube subscribers, etc. In short, the hard numbers you can use as reporting. (more…)

Best Practices of Web Design Cheat Sheet

Best practice is a coined expression or neologism used to designate a technique, method, process, activity, incentive, or reward which is regarded as more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. when applied to a particular condition or circumstance. The idea is that with proper processes, checks and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered with fewer problems and unforeseen complications. —Wikipedia
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Starmark takes home Seven ADDY Awards

Fort Lauderdale based interactive advertising agency Starmark International, earned seven ADDY Awards at the recent Advertising Federation of Greater Fort Lauderdale’s ADDY Awards ceremony this past weekend. (more…)

5 Ways to build yourself as a brand

What does personal brand mean? For many, it means being an expert within a category; for others, a platform by which one can convey their services and products. And some see their brand as the extension of energy and credibility that people should come to expect from you in what you do and say. A personal brand is all of these things and much more. (more…)