Interesting platform being offered for free, but many upgrades that need to be added to be 100% effective.  A step in the right direction overall.  There has been one review of the performance so far by Chandu Thota.

(via Greg Sterling)

Urban Mapping has created an API and is offering its database of neighborhoods across the US for free to developers. The company works with search engines and portals to provide more accurate search results (and advertising) when people use “colloquial” or local queries that are not reflected in official boundaries or recognized geographic designations.

CEO Ian White told me in an email that he envisions the API being used by “any site that captures [local] listings of any type (e.g., events, real estate, business listings, etc.) . . . they can now associate [them with] a neighborhood attribute.” He’s also eager to see how developers creatively use the API in alternative ways.

I have been conducting research on several of geo/local platforms that can assist geopreneurs with their domain development goals.  There are several new technologies coming out that are aimed right at geo domain developers.  I will discuss the ones I find interesting and perhaps beneficial.  It will be upto you to determine how you can implement them into your development (If you chose) and to conduct further research on the complete features they provide. 

The abundance of these new geo/local platforms from major companies over the past 5 months is validating the new hot trend of the internet, geo/local.  The time is finally coming to those who have waited so long for this moment.  The geo/local niche is going to explode in 2008, and those with an effective game plan will be in a very solid position.  It won’t be long before businesses and developers of these platforms realize the most effective use of them will be on geo targeted domains.

I have really learned alot since launching this blog in early December on a variety of subjects both online and offline.  I would just like to say Thank you for visiting and interacting.  This is my motivation to delivering useful information and opinions to you geopreneurs. 

Came across some more great stuff from an associate of David Aireys’.  (MORE)

1. Learn what a logo is and what it represents

Before you design one, you must understand what a logo is, what it represents and what it is supposed to do. A logo is not just a mark – it reflects a business’s commercial brand through the use of shape, fonts, colour, and / or images.

A logo is for inspiring trust, recognition and admiration for a company or product and it is our job as designers to create an identity that will do its job.

One must first know what a logo is before continuing.

For further Reading on what a logo is, check out Wikipedia’s definition or CreativeBits’s discussion on what is a logo?

2. Know the rules and principles of logo design

Now that you know what a logo is supposed to do, and what it should represent, you now must learn what makes a great logo aka; the basic rules and principles of logo design.

As David quotes…

1. A logo must be describable
2. A logo must be memorable
3. A logo must be effective without colour
4. A logo must be scalable i.e. effective when just an inch in size

For Further reading on the rules and principles of great logo design I highly recommend reading these logo design tips from Logo Factory before continuing.

3. Learn off other’s successes and mistakes

Successful Logos

Now you know what the rules of logo design are, you can distinguish the difference between a good and a bad log. By knowing which logos have succeeded, and why, gives a great insight into what makes a good logo.

For example, let’s look at the classic Nike Swoosh (shown above). This logo was created by Caroline Davidson in 1971 for only $35, yet it’s still a strong, memorable logo, effective without colour and easily scalable. It is simple, fluid and fast, and represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek Goddess of victory, Nike (something perfect for a sporting apparel business). The Nike logo is just one of many great designs, think about other famous brands that you know about and check out their logos. What makes them successful?

On Monday, Xerox announced that it has changed its logo after many years to brand its identity that reflects the Xerox of today.   

“The new logo consists of a bright red lower-case “xerox” that sits alongside a red sphere sketched with lines that link to form a stylized X. According to Anne M. Mulcahy, Xerox’s chief, that little piece of art represents the connection to customers, partners, industry and innovation.”  (MORE)

I think it is very important for geo sites that already have a logo, to reevaluate their logos every year to ensure they are still in touch with the trendy consumers who visit their sites. Why every year?  The internet changes so rapidly with technology and designs that consumers expect logo evolution to follow the trendy cities they visit online. Additionally, key things may occur in a region that bring value to an area or demolish known landmarks.  It is a fashion statement you send to visitors when your logo communicates clearly about the region they are proud of or want to visit. 

Is your current logo sending the right message to visitors?  Does it outline the goals the site wishes to deliver.  Geo domains are not like any other internet business.  They are expected to greet consumers with a personalized touch.  A logo can be dated, such as cabinets in a house.  Geopreneurs need to think outside of the box about their current logo and determine if it communicates a clear effective message.  Just because it has worked for the last 2, 3, 4, 5 years, does not neccesarily mean it is still effective.  Evaluate the trends in the region and make the neccessary adjustments to your logo to fulfill visitor expectations.

We should always strive for excellence with our geo domain development, as we are the ambassadors to the Worlds’ “Entrance” to a city, state, country, region, or geo industry. 

What are your thoughts good or bad?   

GeoGuy asked a similiar question earlier this week and I decided to write a post on it instead of replying to his comment.  When you talk to domainers, most will tell you that it is a waste of time to develop a .NET domain.  The first piece of advice they offer is to acquire the .COM domain to develop.  Well, what if the .COM is unavailable for purchase?  Do you chose to develop the prime .NET Geo Domain or do you find a .COM version of lesser quality to develop? Historically, MOST domainers are the worst people to get advice from when it comes to developing domains.  A very small percentage (perhaps 2-3%) in this industry actually have experience in developing names and know the mechanics needed in developing a domain with prime keywords, regardless of the extention.  The true professionals who can make any prime keyword domain into a goldmine lay in SEO and webmaster chatrooms.  

Back in 1999, NetZero.net started a powerful branding campaign as an ISP offering free internet service.  The site remained this way for years until they built an abundance of traffic and subscribers, then they switched everything to the .com version and started charging consumers for ISP service.  All of the major poker sites promote their .NET domains on commercials and gear to get consumers to go and play poker for free, even though they own the .COM, they chose to use the .NET version.

What does all this mean?  These are just some examples of companies finding a niche, being creative and servicing it thru a .NET Domain, turning them into goldmines.  Prime Geo domains are very, very unique in this industry.  Very minimal branding needs to be accomplished on the name itself, regardless of the extention.  Consumers know cities, countries, states, and regions.  They are taught these in school and it is reenforced throughout their lives, so long as it is an area of interest to them.  What is essential for success is Branding for the content found on the domain name. 

If you choose to develop a prime .NET Geo domain, focus on niches that are being underserved thru the .COM version.  The secret to success with a prime .NET Geo domain is NOT TO COMPETE with the areas the .COM domain is exploiting to consumers.  Find those niches that are being underserved by the .COM, Exploit and brand those niches to your domain name thru SEO, Search engines, Google and Yahoo keyword bidding.  Consumers will find your site and you will build loyal targeted traffic, (so long as you have rich content) because you are filling underserved areas.  

With todays technology, all you have to do is get a visitor to your site initially.  This is number one priority for any website.  If you provide rich content on the niches (Must be Updated Info) and provide a positive user experience, the consumer will book mark you, subsribe to you thru a feeder, or subscribe via email. This should be one of your highest priorities to train visitors to do one of those listed above. (Essential you have all these functions and more available to keep them from typing your domain into the brower bar.)

I have no clue how much traffic you will loose to the .COM version through mistaken type-in taffic (Perhaps 20%).  The majority of your traffic will come from search engines and not from type-in traffic.  It is essential that you provide rich content on the niches and brand this content to your prime .NET Geo domain if you are to turn it into a goldmine.  If you are covering niches that are not being served through the .COM version, consumers will search and find you, if they can’t find it on the .COM site.  Does this make sense?  How many times have you gone to a site expecting detailed information on a subject/topic, and left to another site because that information was no where to be found on the site you initially went to?  

Is it possible to build a goldmine out of a prime .NET Geo domain?  Absolutely, so long as you are committed to providing rich content covering niches and branding your domain to those niches.  Nothing is easy with development, regardless if you have a .COM or .NET domain!  

Professional Geopreneurs, please provide input on this subject.   

There are a variety of features that you must consider when selecting a great logo for your geo domain.  Here are a few listed by logo designer David Airey. 

(via DavidAirey.com)

When it comes to seeing a logo that makes you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?”, what exactly is it about the design that gives you that impression?

There are four critical elements that can be seen in every great logo design:

1. It must be describable
2. It must be memorable
3. It must be effective without colour
4. It must be scalable i.e. effective when just an inch in size

Points 1 and 2 go hand in hand, because if you can’t describe what a logo looks like then how will you be able to remember it?

Point 3 is important because colour is secondary to the shape. Adding colour to your logo should be left to the very end of the process, because if the mark doesn’t work in black only, no amount of colour will rescue the design.

Point 4 is vital for things such as office stationery (pens, pin badges etc.). All those little things that people often forget about.

(More)

There are times it is difficult to find well written articles on the internet that the average person can understand in layman’s terms, without getting confused with all the technical mumbo jumbo.  Here is an article that does a pretty good job with the basics.  For detailed information on this subject, you can click (Here).  Enjoy!

By Mihaela Lica

Color Psychology and Branding

Color is probably one of the most powerful psychological tools and we are often not even aware of its power. If you didn’t know it by now, the industrial psychology has a special field that studies the in-depth psychology of color.

Color is a very important factor in online branding, not solely for logos, but for web graphics in general. A simple shade of red could either send a good, positive message or generate an aggressive state of mind. To put it clear: color drives emotions and emotions are the most important factor in decision-making.

Color psychology is rather hard to define when we consider cultural differences, personal beliefs and subjective meanings. But some general aspects might help you in choosing the right colors for online branding.

First of all for a business website you should avoid dark backgrounds, especially black. It is true that dark backgrounds, when used wisely, might create a “charmed” atmosphere, but is this the message you want to send? Shouldn’t you be focusing on “reliability”, “trustworthiness”, “quality” and other such positive values? For a business website, avoid the “Twilight Zone” look and feel, unless you sell magic potions, books of mystery or other such products.

Light backgrounds are the best choice to create uncluttered layouts. This is also the latest trend in web design. The “heavy” websites of the past, with their saturated colors, their marble tiles patterns and their stripped backgrounds are passé. Sophisticated designs employ light colors with random dark hue accents, simple layouts and high quality, unique graphics that match the color scheme of the design.

Logos should still employ powerful, recognizable colors, the kind of colors that capture attention and appeal to the senses.

Usually, blue logos don’t fail because blue is the favorite color of a clear majority of people. A look at the clear blue sky would help your body produce the chemicals you need to relax. But when it comes to dark blues, too much might cause stress and nervous tension. Commonly logo designers use navy blue for business-to-business logos, for financial logos and for official logos, as this color suggests dependability and straightforwardness, precisely the values needed for such affairs.

Green, in its various shades, is perfect for the hospitality industry, food industry (especially for BIO products) cosmetic (if we consider Yves Rocher and Garnier) and ecology.

Although each color has its audience and its industry, there are cases when one color might be successfully employed for atypical applications. It’s just a matter of “how to” design using that color and other hues to create the best color combination.

Reds and orange are not so easy to deal with, especially online. But they do have their fans (Ferrari, Coca-Cola, etc) and with a good design they will reach the targeted audience faster than other colors. That’s because red is the color of energy, movement and excitement.

(More)