8 Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills
Listening is something I practice, and most of us need to practice listening, like an internal workout. I get better if I am listening with intention – leaning in and really focusing on what the person is saying. Not thinking of what I will say or how I will respond, which is what most of us want to …
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Designs for Social Change in the Public Sector
When creating graphic designs for municipalities and government agencies, reaching the most people with social change campaigns relies on the ability of people to see themselves in the materials. Most people are invested in any combination of social causes. If your design addresses that cause and looks like them, they are more likely to spend …
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Google Ad Grants Changes Help Nonprofits
In early 2018 nonprofits found their Google Ad Grants management strategy needed to dramatically change in order to stay compliant with Google. This change happened when Google updated their Google Ad Grants Management Policy and started pausing accounts that didn’t comply. These policy changes were created by Google as an effort to improve the quality …
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Video Production Lighting 2019 and Beyond
As I sit here contemplating my takeaways from the 2019 National Association of Broadcaster’s show in Las Vegas, a few things bubble to the surface, but one stands out the most for me; video production lighting. I’m the Director of Photography at Uptown Studios and am responsible for the camera and lighting crews on our …
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Growing a Business with Integrity and Fairness
Growing a business with integrity and fairness is something you have to plan for from the beginning, whether you own a start-up or a decades-old business like ours. It’s good to establish a company mission and vision that includes the community you serve. Your mission is a key to creating a brand that endures and …
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5 Marketing Fundamentals to Promote New Nonprofits
You are a new nonprofit and you have a working website with a blog, however you don’t know how to market your new website. This is a very common problem amongst nonprofits and every other industry on the world wide web. Indeed, if you are looking for a quick answer to your marketing problem, just …
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Green Printing in 5 Easy Steps
We are all trying to make more responsible and informed decisions with all of our purchases. Which includes being thoughtful about printed business products. Here are 5 things to consider when going green with your printed products… Think Paper. There are plenty of creative options in color, texture, and finishes. For example, Neenah Environment, and …
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Instagram Tips for Nonprofits
This week’s blog is based on a fun discussion I had with Lizzie Carroll, a member of the Uptown Studios marketing team, on how nonprofit organizations can make the most of their Instagram channel. Use Interesting and Relevant Content “A social media manager’s job is to educate people on what a nonprofit organization does and to …
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How Mobile First Indexing Affects Your Website
If you received an email from the Google Search Console Team labeled “Mobile First Indexing Enabled”, you are not alone. Luckily, you don’t have to do anything, because your website is mobile responsive and someone may be viewing your site right now on their mobile phone. However, if you want to know more about what …
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TEAL – Rocking a Self-Managed Business
You can’t just snap your fingers and have your entire organization switch from a hierarchical organization to a TEAL self-managed team – although I thought it would be easier than it has been. I thought “wow, no bosses and everyone does what they do best – what an awesome way to run a business.” Uptown Studios …
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Seasonal Inspiration for the Year
This year has been a transformative one for Uptown Studios. We have added new services, new employees and have embraced a new business model, based on a self-motivated, self-managed team. There are no “bosses”, no time clocks, and that has equated into loads of creativity, support and ideas. Our new team members embrace this new …
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Human Centered Design for Social Change
Our tagline, “Designs for Social Change,” defines how we work as a studio. Not only do we make a point of working with non-profit organizations, donating our time, and resources, but we also make every single project we work on a “social change” project. To create social change in everything we do, we use our …
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Donate Socks for Toes in Need
I really don’t like being cold; especially my feet, which is why we are asking people to donate socks for others who need your help now more than ever! Cold feet are the worst. But I’m really fortunate in that worrying about being cold is not something I have to do. I am guessing that …
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Use Video for Business Success
We have grown with the trends at Uptown Studios and added video production in 2007 as one of our in-house services to our clients. At that point our video production team was creating educational long-form videos, ad spots for local broadcast television or compelling videos for social media promotion. What we know: We know that …
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Yes, Whatever You Want Princess Google!
In 2008, Uptown Studios started paying a LOT of attention to what Google was telling us to do. We worked on our organic content, we developed strong keywords to make sure we are talking about what our visitors are searching for and we upgraded all the websites we manage to include SSL …
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Resources That Help Nonprofits Win
The secret’s out! Google gives nonprofits $10,000 a month in free Ads! Just apply, set up a Google Ads account and have your ads in the top spot on Google search results. By driving increased traffic to your nonprofit’s website, the ads help spread awareness of your cause, bring attention to important issues and possibly …
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