320 Main Custom Web Content & Design
One of the hardest things for small businesses to do is to create a consistent and current online presence. When you’re running your business many times the last thing you want to do is sit down and try and write a unique yet informative blog about your company. Not to mention that most business people aren’t designers or writers by trade. With so much web content out there, just writing a blog about your business isn’t enough. It’s the twitter age – people want quick, colorful, interesting information… and lots of pictures. Plus, engaging and regular content via a blog on your website hugely increases your search engine optimization. It was for this reason that we got into helping small businesses create unique and engaging custom online content and graphics.
We met Jason Schiffer, owner of 320 Main Restaurant, through our friend and client Erik Hale of Locale Magazine. Jason is one of the most talented and innovative mixologists in Orange County, and arguably the nation if you talk to cocktail connoisseurs. He has a wealth of knowledge about the history of the cocktail, where it went wrong, and how to bring it back to its glory days. He also has a great passion for sharing this wealth of information with his Orange County community – he just lacks the time to figure out the best way to share it. So he and his wife and business partner, Rebecca, brought us on to take over the empty 320 Main blog and make it into an authority on mixology in the online community while also highlighting 320 Main’s efforts to further the craft.
The first step was redesigning their Blogger blog they set up to match their website and branding. We created custom buttons and headers to make the blog look like an old fashioned saloon. Then we arranged to have monthly meetings with Jason and Rebecca wherein we would plan out the month’s content, write out notes for the articles Jason wanted to post, interview employees at 320 Main or experts in the mixology community, and take photos of the drinks, dishes and people we would feature. From that hour meeting we went home and rewrote the notes into colorful articles highlighting Jason’s expertise and his restaurant’s offerings, supplementing the posts with the edited photos we had taken as well as original graphics we illustrated and designed to start building a unique, recognizable brand for Jason’s blog. We manage the blog, formatting the articles in Blogger, making sure they are consistent with branding, setting them to draft for review, getting approval from Jason or Rebbeca before posting, and then making the post live. The blog has become a well-oiled, dapper-looking place for cutting edge information on craft cocktails and what is happening at one of Orange County’s craft cocktail havens, 320 Main.
Recently, Jason brought on a craft cocktail expert in Orange County, Matthew “RumDood” Robold, to help write the articles to advance his online content to the next level. We still manage the content, formatting the posts, taking the photos, and designing the supporting graphics. You can visit the blog to see the work we’ve done: http://320main.blogspot.com. More importantly, just visit 320 Main in person for the best Old Fashioned and Moscow Mule you can get in Orange County. They’re located in Seal Beach. The food at the chophouse is also stellar. You can peruse the gastropub Americana food offered at 320 Main on the blog as well.
Here’s some screenshots and images of custom illustrations and photos we have done for 320 Main. One of our favorite additions to their site was our idea to do a centerfold every month, wherein we would feature a 320 Main drink or dish and make it look like a retro pinup poster. Jason loved the idea and it has become one of the blog’s signature offerings!
Do you need help creating custom content for your business? Let us know!
