Well, I actually completed it early last year, but thought it would be worth posting the results. I put a lot of thought into it. I drew sketches, planned color combinations, where the sun fell, how the rocks would look, flow, utility, etc. A lot of thought. But I had a deadline. I gave myself 9 months to complete it. Well, actually the home builder gave us a coupon to do landscaping and they gave us 9 months to redeem it, but I like deadlines.

Our house is a pretty plain, colonial style house. A perfect blank canvas.

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Posted: February 15th, 2009 under Branding, Uncategorized.
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A friend of mine asked me how his business could quickly get noticed, and get new leads. He owns a small home improvement business. Most of his work is generated through word of mouth, which is the best kind of advertising. With the economy the way it is some of the business is drying up. I thought about how I and others like me who own homes look for contractors. The old way is the phone book. Which he is aware of, but I took for granted my knowledge of the internet and mentioned SEO and social media to him. Being a person who works with his hands, he’s not as sophisticated with web 2.0. He wasn’t aware of the behavioral shift to online searching. People look for and research most everything they are going to spend a decent amount of money on these days. And the audience he is looking for, those in a higher income bracket, will be spending more money with him. That same audience is more likely to be web savvy and searching for goods and services on line, including home improvement. I search for everything from firewood to top soil online and am always disappointed in what I find. There is a big opportunity in the home improvement local search area. He’s interest was peaked. Especially when I told him there would be no fees like he would see if he got a listing in the Yellow Pages. He’s looking for a total re-branding and website design. We’re working out a trade agreement, so it’s FREE for him. I told him the thing that will get him business isn’t the design, but the strategy, and search will be driving that. He said "Searchifyme!"

I’ll post the results of this project within the next year. Should be interesting.

Here is another article about small business and video. Social media.

Posted: November 7th, 2008 under Branding, Design, SEM.
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Erik Schutzman is a Pittsburgh designer, painter, illustrator… artist.

Welcome to web 2.0. This is my new site. Enjoy!

Here is my Top 10 List of things I want to do in 2008

10. Redesigning my website

9. Get involved in social media

8. Understand Search Engine Marketing

7. Finish my landscaping

6. Start a painting

5. Do a bike race

4. Organize my digital assets

3. Improve my search engine optimization techniques

2. Sell a painting

1. Get ranked on page one for “Pittsburgh Designer”

Posted: June 6th, 2008 under Branding, Design, Fine Art, Personal, Uncategorized.
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