SINISTER VISIONS LATEST NEWSSINISTER VISIONS LATEST NEWSSunday, June 14, 2009
This has come up a couple of times in the last few weeks, so I figured I'd better post about it. If you hire Sinister Visions to create a website for you, the artwork/graphics will be created specifically for the website, for screen usage. They WILL NOT be suitable for print usage, period*.
In other words, if you only hire SVi to do a website, don't think you're getting flyer art out of the deal unless you SPECIFY that AHEAD OF TIME, and it's built into your fee. SVi is happy to create your marketing artwork at high resolution for you to use however you need, but you gotta pay for it.
If you come back after the website has been launched and ask for the artwork to use on a poster or something, please expect to pay an artwork re-creation fee, as the work will have to be remade from scratch at a print-quality resolution.
Remember, there is no magic wand, here. Photoshop is not powered by fairy dust. The graphics SVi creates are pains-takingly built, layer by layer, and can't just be "blown up" 300% without serious image degradation.
*As a frame of reference, your screen uses 72 dots (pixels) per square inch to show you an image. Something printed will be a minimum of 300 dots per inch. If you've ever seen something printed from a website, you've noticed how blurry, blotchy and blocky it looks - that's because it's screen-resolution, not meant for print. If you still don't understand the concept, take a magnifying glass and look at a magazine cover - you'll see the dots; printing screen-rez images lets people "see the dots".
Posted by Chad Savage / Sinister Visions # 2:06 AM
Thursday, June 4, 2009
I've had a couple of clients recently ask my opinion about where they should be spending their money online for featured listings and ads for the upcoming 2009 Halloween season. My first response is: I'm not the one to ask. Since I don't own a haunted house, your best bet is to ask other haunted house owners.
Having said that, however, I spend most of my day on the internet working for the haunted attraction industry, so I do have some thoughts and insights on the subject, which follow.
First, and most importantly: There is no one place you can buy an ad or featured listing that is guaranteed to work for you - different markets and geographic locations get different results from the same websites. National-level haunted house finder sites may work well in some areas, but will rank behind localized haunt finder sites in others. Take HauntedHouseChicago.com, for instance - do a search on Google or Yahoo! for pretty much any combination of the words "haunted" "house" and "Chicago", and HauntedHouseChicago.com will be the first link you see - national-level haunted house finder sites don't even rank in the first 10 results.
Obviously, not every market has a site like HauntedHouseChicago.com; many of them rely on the national-level sites for their internet traffic, and so should avail themselves of those sites.
Probably the best way to determine where you should focus your online advertising dollars is to do some test searches on Google.com and Yahoo.com. Put yourself in the headspace of the people that you want to find you online - you want people who (a) want to go to a local haunted house and (b) DO NOT already know about yours*. What words would they use to search for haunted houses in their (your) area? Do those searches yourself and see what websites come up in the top five results - those are probably where you should be buying your featured listings and ads.
Also, if you aren't using FREE sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social networking sites to promote your haunt, you're behind the curve - but I've already covered that in a previous post.
*When it comes to featured listings and ads, the name of the game is NEW customers - don't worry about the people who already know about your haunted house. They'll find you. Focus on the people who DON'T know about your haunted house - that's where you'll maximize your ad budget.
Posted by Chad Savage / Sinister Visions # 3:14 PM
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
SinisterVisions.com has been significantly updated / upgraded for 2009. Besides a much simpler navigation system, the site now features a variety of helpful explanations, tutorials and links to help you, the end user, make the most of your marketing materials, websites and social media accounts.
First, there's the Define Terms page, which helps you determine the difference between a number of services/elements Sinister Visions inc. offers.
Second, there's the Help Yourself page, where you can find software and tutorials that will enable you to take command of your own web/print marketing assets.
Third, there's the new site layout and upgrade, which makes it much simpler to view SVi's previous work and inquire after your own project via the new Project Request Page.
Posted by Chad Savage / Sinister Visions # 2:58 AM
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
You'll spend $5,000 - $10,000 on a radio or newspaper ad, but you're not using FREE web promotion?
A few years ago, having a website was enough. You advertised your site's URL and swapped links with other sites, and in time you could be reasonably sure your customer base would find you.
In 2009 your website is still a great start, but if you're serious about drawing people to your website (and, by extension, your event), you have to go further. You need to get your event/brand in front of people more aggressively. One of the best ways to do this is through Social Networking & Media sites.
Millions of people are logging into MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and other similar sites daily (even hourly), looking for the things that interest them, things to do, and (most importantly) things to share with their friends. One of the driving forces behind these sites is the fact that people are able to share and discuss the things they find fun or interesting; with some strategic setup, you can make it very easy for people to find, save and share information about your business, event or attraction.
While most of these sites are free to use, expect to invest heavily in terms of time. You must provide relevant and timely information and content to them, build Contact/Friends Lists, and stay on top of messages, requests and approvals. If you are unwilling or unable to do this, there is no point in reading further.
Sinister Visions can help you set up a solid presence on key Social Network & Media sites, help you cross-wire them to each other and your website, and help kick-start your presence on the web *beyond* your website. Specifically:
Posted by Chad Savage / Sinister Visions # 3:32 AM
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The server crash last month killed DarkArtStore.com; However, the Chad Savage original art/prints that were for sale on that site are now available at http://www.chadsavage.com.
Help me out, folks - if you come across dead or non-functioning links, PLEASE contact Chad at savage@sinistervisions.com and let him know.
Posted by Chad Savage / Sinister Visions # 4:27 AM
Thursday, February 26, 2009
After weeks and weeks of dead computers, deader servers, the flu, crappy economy and the cancellation of Pushing Daisies, things are starting to even out a bit. I've posted a few recent sites to the portfolio, with more on the way pending completion.
The Dark Art Store is still offline, and the eCard gallery doesn't seem to like the new server, but most of the Sinister Sites are back up and running.
If you're in or around Chicago, there's a lot of spooky stuff going on in the near future. Head over to the recently-launched DarkChicago.com for a quick overview of upcoming creepy news & events.
Posted by Chad Savage / Sinister Visions # 4:13 AM
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Sinister Visions Banner Exchange data files were severely damaged in The Great Crash of January 9th. If your site is a member of the SVBX, please go to http://www.sinistervisions.net/bp/ and rejoin. If it tells you your username is in use, then that means your account is fine; if you are able to register, then you'll need to replace the code on your site with the new account HTML code you're given.
Sorry for the trouble!
Posted by Chad Savage / Sinister Visions # 2:19 AM
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