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Channel: Casey Gold, Author at Blue Ion

Your Daily Need-to-Know, at 6am

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6AM City is the machine behind the daily newsletter you receive if you live in Greenville, Columbia, Charleston, or Asheville – we know you’re subscribed and if you’re not, you should be.

6AM kicked off with launching in Greenville, which you can read an earlier post about how we helped with planning & building the GVLtoday website.

They’ve since launched their daily newsletter in Columbia, Charleston and Asheville plus more markets planned for the future. And of course, we’ve been there to support them along the way.

One of the key pieces of functionality for the original GVLtoday website was setting it up on a “multi-site” platform so that it’d be easy to replicate for new markets moving forward; all managed in the backend by their team.

We’ve since implemented some new tools. Potential advertisers now have the ability to submit & pay for an event listing, home listing or job listing directly from the website. So if you’re located in one of the above noted markets and you’re trying to get a little more attention for an event, job or home, I’d suggest listing it on one of the 6AM sites.

As always with this crew, much more to come in the future.

Cheers.

The post Your Daily Need-to-Know, at 6am appeared first on Blue Ion.


Find a Place to Call Home in WNC

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That’s exactly what the Witherspoon Platt + Associates (WPA) team is determined to do if you’re searching for real estate in Western North Carolina. We were fortunate enough to take part in their rebranding process and then develop a website that properly portrays their true identity.

I’m tempted to ramble on – telling you what WPA is, how they got started and what they’re about today – but why do so when these words have already been so eloquently spoken by our pro, in-house wordsmith, Jenny Badman. Take it from here Jenny…

About WPA

As a full service, conservation-focused real estate brokerage, we connect people to the beauty, history, and culture of Western North Carolina through both the built environment and land protection. Established custom-home architects Platt Architecture created the innovative and groundbreaking firm Conservation Advisors of North Carolina in 1998 to help landowners in Western North Carolina protect and conserve their valuable mountain properties; now, Conservation Advisors has grown into a unique and progressive real estate brokerage: Witherspoon Platt + Associates.

The WPA Manifesto

We call ourselves lucky to live in Western North Carolina – among ancient, well-worn mountains, waterfalls, sage-sloped valleys, rivers, and hidden creeks, forests and open meadows.

Not only because of this place’s intrinsic beauty but also because we’re part of its enduring story of days and seasons, first frosts and crimson falls, springs thaws and sun-soaked summers, afternoon thunderstorms and morning fog.

We find that people come to this part of the world for all kinds of reasons. Wanderlust. Fly fishing. Epic sunsets. Biking. Golf. Good people. Down time. Fun times. Peace. And a search for something they can’t quite name.

That search is the reason why we do what we do. From strapping on muddy boots and scouting property, determining exactly how and where a home can adapt or live like an extension of the land itself, or listening intently to a client’s needs and dreams, we’re committed to the real, daily work of serving people, of late nights on the computer and early mornings with contractors, because the end result is a place someone calls home, here.

Our roots in and knowledge of this special place – its secret, sacred spaces, its ravines and hollows and pastures and mountains, its people, history, and culture – are exceeded only by our love for connecting others to it.

Because to live here is to be constantly immersed in beauty – standing under the pounding cold power of Courthouse Falls, trekking along the knobs of Art Loeb trail, listening to the whippoorwill’s song – and devoting ourselves to its preservation. Not just because we want our children and grandchildren to see what we see – but because we simply can’t imagine a world without this place.

What we realized is that all of our exploring, hiking, fishing, talking, porch sittin’, beer drinking, music listening, and blackberry picking is just as much an internal journey as it is an external one. And it’s our duty to share that journey with everyone we meet.

We’ve come to know that this piece of land, this home, this place, this answer that we all seek is a personal, emotional, and soulful connection to something far greater than ourselves – and something quite simple. It’s understanding that as much as we want the land to belong to us, we first, and always, belong to it.

Witherspoon Platt + Associates
Find the place you belong.

The post Find a Place to Call Home in WNC appeared first on Blue Ion.

Setup GA Display Network Impression Reporting in 4 Steps

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#ICYMI – Google Analytics is rolling out the ability to view AdWords Display Network Impression Reporting in the Multi-Channel Funnel Reports. I know this has been in discussion for awhile now, but I have yet to see the ability to actually setup within Analytics until now. This is the existing comment I discovered from Google while digging in:

“Contact your Google sales account manager or Analytics 360 account manager to request this feature activation. Please note that we cannot guarantee access, but we will do our best to provide this feature to as many users as possible.”

So far, I’ve had access across accounts without having to request it.

Below are the 4 easy steps to setup AdWords Display Network Impression Reporting in Google Analytics:

  1. Link your Google AdWords account and Google Analytics Account if not already.Link Google AdWords to Google Analytics
  2. Enable Remarketing & Advertising Reporting Features within Analytics. This can be found in the Admin > Tracking Info > Data Collection section.
    Google Analytics Data Collection for Advertisers
  3. To finalize, navigate back to the Admin section of Google Analytics > AdWords Linking > Select Link Group > Edit ‘Link configuration’ > tick the check box for ‘Additional Data: Enable Google Display Network Impression Reporting.’
    Enable Google Display Network Impression Reporting
  4. It is also recommended that you update your privacy policy to include an appropriate description of your use of GDN impression data. More info can be found at Policy requirements for Google Analytics Advertising Features.

Happy analyzing!

Google Analytics Display Network Impression Reporting

The post Setup GA Display Network Impression Reporting in 4 Steps appeared first on Blue Ion.

Brewing Up Beer Labels

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Pretty much everything is better when beer is involved – right? This includes work… whether you’re drinking it or working on a beer related project. It just tastes better. We’ve been fortunate enough to work with some really badass clients in the beer industry or simply got to tackle some awesome beer related projects. Below are some of the beer labels we’ve designed over the years.

Holy City Brewery Collision Stout

Holy City Brewery Pedishaw

Holy City Brewery Sparkly Princess

Makers Summit Makers Quest

Gian Conference

Kernel Panic

Giant Conference Blueberry Kush

The post Brewing Up Beer Labels appeared first on Blue Ion.

Rebranding Hunter Banks Fly Fishing

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Hunter Banks is a fly fishing retail store & outfitter serving Western North Carolina. They provide everything you need to get out the water and have a great day. Inexperienced? No worries, enroll in one of their guided fly fishing trips. Seasoned pro? Get expert advice on where the best fishing spots are or go ahead and treat yourself and upgrade to that next level rod. Whatever it may be, as long as a river, rod and line are involved, they’ll help ya out.

All that to say that our Outpost team was stoked when they reached out for help working through a rebranding exercise. This included a new guiding brand story, logo and overall identity.

When starting this type of process, we need to understand the company and it’s product/service and customers. We do this through an exhaustive discovery process which includes interviews, tours, surveys, competitor benchmarking, materials audit, moodboard exploration, etc. etc. etc. The end goal of the discovery process is to come away with a strategic direction in terms of where the brand needs to go, which this acts as a jumping off point for our copywriters & designers to go do their thang.

Below are some examples of the brand story, style tile and logo as we worked through the project.








The post Rebranding Hunter Banks Fly Fishing appeared first on Blue Ion.

Welcome Jeremy Elrod

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We’re excited to welcome the newest member of our Blue Ion Greenville marketing team: Jeremy Elrod.

Jeremy joins us with a diverse background and an array of experiences from running his own Podcast, slanging King of Pops or just general business consulting for some of the best brands in town. We’re excited to bring him on can’t wait to see what he’s able to accomplish in the years ahead.

Read on to learn a little bit more about Jeremy…

If you could interview anyone in the world on your podcast, who would it be and why?
Probably Yvon Chouinard. I love the outdoors, and, even aside from the obvious of him founding Patagonia, I bet he has some pretty rad stories to tell. He just kind of seems like the worlds most interesting man.

What three words would your family use to describe you?
Adventurous. Ambitious. Stubborn.

A six-year-old child asks you if Santa Claus is real…. What do you say?
You’ve got a good thing going here, kid… and unless you want lottery tickets and gift cards to Applebees as gifts for the rest of your life, just keep believing.

Whats the one thing you always have when going on a hike or an adventure?
I’d like to say something cool like a journal or a my favorite knife (both of which I do often carry)… but what I know makes it on every trip would be some kind of camera, whether it’s a GoPro, a fancy DSLR or just the one on my phone.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
I wanted to paint the bathrooms in my new house, but first needed to repair some spots and places along the walls and ceiling where the paint was chipping. I decided to do the job myself and watched some instructional YouTube videos, which said to use a putty knife and simply chip away the surrounding area that came up easy. Unfortunately when I began chipping away it ALL came up easy… so I ended up turning a few 4 inch cracks into several 2-3 foot patches. It quickly went from DIY to DI-WHY THE HECK DID I DO THIS???

If you could get rid of any one state, which would it be and why?
Without question or any hesitation whatsoever – the state of Kansas. I drove it from end to end once on a road trip to Colorado, and felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Nothing to see but rolling tumble weeds and wind mills on repeat the entire way.

Are you more of a hunter or a gatherer?
I feel like a little of both, but definitely more of a hunter.

What is always in your refrigerator?
Duke’s Mayonnaise. Chicken Salad. Sirracha Sauce.

It’s 5pm. What are you drinking?
If I could snap my fingers and magically have a beer in hand, probably anything from Creature Comforts… like a Tropicalia or KoKo Buni. Reminds me of good times had in Athens.

You’re having a bad day, what makes it better?
Being silly and spending some quality time with my wife and dogs.

If you could choose only one song to play every time you walked into a room what would it be?
Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees.

What do you want to do when you grow up?
Roam the world and write short stories.

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Cheers, Jeremy!

The post Welcome Jeremy Elrod appeared first on Blue Ion.

Re-Branding New Bridge Equestrian Community

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New Bridge is an 861-acre private, gated equestrian community nestled among rolling pasture lands of Aiken, South Carolina, a renowned equestrian destination with a vibrant downtown. Founded in 2000 by Russ McCall and born from the excitement, intensity and tradition of polo, New Bridge embraces equestrians of all disciplines as well as those who simply love the outdoors, with all sharing the essential joys of a life that celebrates horses, people and land – in a place that connects them.

Our work with New Bridge started towards the end of 2017. We were tasked with helping evolve the brand by better telling their story and then updating marketing materials to reflect their new brand premise of “Room to Play. Room to Ride. Room to Live.” This consisted of a new style guide, brand manifesto, community brochure, interactive masterplan and updated website design.

The post Re-Branding New Bridge Equestrian Community appeared first on Blue Ion.

Welcome Sarah Henley

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We’re thrilled to welcome Sarah Henley to the Blue Ion Marketing team. Sarah comes to us with an expertise in all things Amazon with a strong interest in broadening her digital marketing skillset. This has probably been one of the more unique on-boarding experiences for both Blue Ion and Sarah due to our current work […]

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Your Go-To Amazon Marketing Team

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Blue Ion is a full service marketing agency, and we are excited to announce that now includes Amazon marketing services! Whether you just need help getting started, pushing your advertising campaigns to the next level, or something in-between, we can provide the insights and recommendations to improve your Amazon selling and ultimately, your profit.  Hello […]

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New Office for Our Web Design & Marketing Crew in Greenville, SC

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A little late on posting this one, but our Greenville marketing crew recently settled into a new office at Atlas Local, a rad co-working space full of creators and entrepreneurs housed in the historic Brandon Mill. We love the energy here, the inspired workspace, and being a part of the West Greenville community. Oh, and […]

The post New Office for Our Web Design & Marketing Crew in Greenville, SC appeared first on Blue Ion.





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