“Even in these tough economic times, we think there will be a proliferation of new startups,” says Nick Chiechi, President of Manhattan-based CS Designworks. The firm has launched the Entrepreneur Resource Center to help.

The Entrepreneur Resource Center provides relevant and useful content for new businesses in three key areas: 1) Getting Started – all about logistics, 2) Establishing a Brand – creating a professional visual presence, 3) Getting the Word Out – how to promote a new business. The Entrepreneur Resource Center has organized all of the above in one easy-to-use place. In addition, The ERC has great links, ask an expert, fun polls and a blog called BizBlog.

The Entrepreneur Resource Center is also hoping to grow the portal with contributions from the business community at large. “We are specifically seeking to expand the BizBlog section with some great stories from business owners or experts. People want to know what it really took to get your business off the ground, so we’re asking established business owners to share the early day war stories, the sleepless nights and the early victories,” says Chiechi. “We hope to ascertain a diverse base of content contributors. The web is all about finding opportunity in places not anticipated and we feel this is a great platform.”

CS Designworks will be promoting the ERC through SEO, social media, PR and blog posts. The potential for robust traffic is great, so if the site catches on, potential leads, contacts and new business could result as other benefits.

For more information, contact Nick Chiechi at nick@csdesignworks.com, Michael Soha at mike@csdesignworks.com.
Telephone 212-679-1212. CS Designworks, 12 East 33rd Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10016.

“This group was particularly lively, and because there were so many questions the visit lasted four hours,” said Nick Chiechi, CSD President. Students also spent time in the conference room looking at a portfolio of the firms work. Details about some of the assignments were revealed and that sparked a lot of discussion.

From a technical standpoint there were many questions regarding what applications the firm uses to create websites, motion graphics and marketing communications. Examples of the firm’s promotional items were also displayed and why and how particular items were chosen was explained. There was also interest in how a particular project cycled through the creative and production stages and how much time the process takes.

Students were surprised to learn that while the designers were often responsible for specific aspects of an assignment -– there was still so much collaboration and teamwork at CSD. They asked what additional skills they should hone as they prepare to enter the workforce. The group was encouraged to focus on writing.

Designers explained that concepts rely on content to communicate a message and that writing is used to present ideas – even though professional writers are ultimately involved in most projects. They were reminded that the web is demanding writing for websites, search engine optimization, blogs and social media.

A quick poll established that while the students want to be employed to gain experience, many of them had the ultimate goal of starting their own business. Remembering their visit and energy, CSD staffers concluded that this group definitely has the motivation and enthusiasm to succeed in their future career choices.

I looked at some Bible passages recently and realized that the book titles, numbered chapters and superscribe sentences had a direct correlation to some of the basic things I’ve been learning about SEO. Is employing a Search Engine Optimization strategy for a website similar to indexing the Bible? Are search engines and web crawlers doing the same thing that scribes and compositors did on pages of the Gutenberg Bible?

Because the Bible is considered one of the greatest books ever written, translated and sold, it has been studied and analyzed for centuries. Thanks to many minds, you can reference the Bible quickly and with accuracy. In many instances reference and analysis actually appears in the text and margins of ancient manuscripts. Another research tool created by scholars and theologians is a Bible Concordance.

The print version of the Concordance indexes an alphabetical list of virtually every word (especially the important ones) present in the text of the Bible, usually with citations of the passages concerned. Having it takes years off of research time and allows the researcher to establish search criteria, look up a variety of words or topics and cross reference them. Today, online versions do this even quicker.

On the Internet, Google and other search engines do the same thing – but about everything and anything! What are some ways the content of your web pages and their coding are effected? If your website is composed of SEO targeted writing – your site is more indexable by search engines. That consists of breaking your website down into many pages and considering which words you use in headlines and the text to best describe the product or service on each page.

Additionally, as in the Bible analogy, Google searches still further – into the html (HyperText Markup Language) that exists for each page in the website. While this information is not displayed to a website visitor, the web designers/programmers can view it and intentionally create title and description tags, again using SEO names and words. So, adding the right information here can bring traffic to your site but you must know how best to explain the content on the page.

By using SEO key word analysis you can improve the volume and quality of traffic to your website from search engines via “natural” (organic or algorithmic) search results for targeted key words.� You can also target different kinds of searches and the process can be helpful in determining the best pay-per-click ad campaign for you.

While this analogy is meant to be very general, SEO is a new “authoritative book”. It has a number of features, is very complex and constantly changing. CS Designworks is certified by the Search Engine Academy in all SEM/SEO best practices. We have been busy applying our knowledge to the creation of new sites and are also optimizing existing ones. This work can be done up front or on a gradual basis – but either way, it’s an ongoing task that can yield divine results.

While the process of creating a brochure 25+ years ago is now part of art history, I do believe a quick review (leaving out a lot of details) illustrates how technology has changed the design industry for newer generations of designers. Back then, if you were a student “freelancer” with a client, and they had a printer, they needed your design and a “mechanical” for production.

I was fortunate to be an art student and knew some things about print design. I designed my high school yearbook by using a company kit that showed how to specify the layout of a page, size photographs, create special line art and fit copy. If you had talent, skills, reference materials and a lot of art supplies (many of them extremely dangerous), and knew how to use them – you could probably do the job – although you would probably need to correct a lot of mistakes.

The process usually involved at least two additional businesses: a type shop and photo stat shop. Each had their own staffs, expensive equipment and supplies. The type output (referred to as galley’s) and the photo stats would then be cut and pasted to a white piece of illustration board. Hopefully, the results would resemble your vision, and more importantly, it fit together in the allotted spaces. If not – the work would need to be repeated.

To begin, you had to rough out the layout, do a character and line count of the manuscript and then specify instructions for the typesetter. You had to physically get the manuscript to the typesetter where it was retyped! In many instances headlines were produced on entirely different equipment. This type came in long strips which you had to handle additionally. In some instances you could use transfer type that came on adhesive film, although the size and quantity of letters you needed might not be provided on one sheet, requiring you to buy additional ones.

If text changes were required [get this] you would physically cut and paste them together – letter by letter, word by word and sentence by sentence (often using scrap type from additional galley’s)! You hoped that you had the right letters and everything would stay in place. You could phone in corrections to the type shop but it usually took 24 hours to receive the revised text. Access to photo copiers was limited (copy shops) and there were no fax machines. And all of this needed to happen before you presented it to your client the first time. Afterwards, you would repeat this process over and over again. Finally, on a tissue overlay, you’d indicate color break and a variety of information for the printer. When in print production, the job went through a number of additional steps and the printer could make some changes but not all.

A lack of space and time will spare the details of incorporating logos, line art or photographs. If you had them, the photo stat shop would make direct positives or negatives that would be sized and handled again and again for cropping. And all the decisions regarding their use required math. You can imagine the challenges this created when doing a magazine, book, or a daily newspaper! Consider how many materials were leftover and needed to be stored.

Today, you can virtually do everything on your computer without leaving your desk. This has eliminated many businesses and industries but created new ones. Now that we have the Internet, you can deliver a pdf – that in many ways is the finished product. It is amazing to compare how our practice has changed and recognize the ways it has remained the same. It is exciting to think about all the things that will happen in the future!