Horsepower has been a part of automotive terminology since the beginning of the automobile era, therefore I find it surprising that only a handful of automotive manufacturers have chosen to use an image of a horse as a design element of their logo or emblem. Horses have long been viewed as a universal symbol of speed, strength, power and prestige… qualities that I assumed would be quite useful in the competitive automotive field. So while doing research for a few horse logos I have designed, I was extremely shocked to come across scarcely a half dozen examples of horse logos in the entire automobile manufacturing industry. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy the six examples of automotive horse logos I was able compile for your viewing pleasure… and if I left out a few please let me know!

1. Ferrari

The Ferrari emblem is probably one of the sexiest horse logos ever designed!

2. Porsche

The Porsche emblem is one of the most recognized horse logos in the auto industry!

3: Ford Mustang

The Mustang emblem is the most famous horse logo in Ford's history.

4. Ford Bronco

The Ford Bronco Sport was the first SUV to incorporate a horse into it's logo design.

5. Ford Maverick

This horse decal/emblem adorned select Ford Maverick cars in the early 1970s.

6. Ford Pinto

The Ford Pinto emblem is just one of many horse logos in the history of Ford Motor Company.

Which one is your favorite?

I know there are only a few to choose from, but let us know which one you consider the best automotive horse logo. Also, if you know of an automobile manufacturer that I may have left out, please let me know!

It is a New Year, and at Manifest Creative we are very excited to announce that our Montana web and graphic design studio has a fresh new home. On December 1st of 2009 we officially moved into our new office located at 21000 Frontage Road, Suite #6 in Belgrade, MT.

Outdoor signage facing Frontage Road installed by Kelly Kapinos of Signs and Designs, now adorns the iPark professional building which is the new home for Manifest Creative.

There is still a fair amount of work ahead to get the studio decorated to our liking and equipped with the latest in proper design gadgetry, but our new space is already rewarding us with many advantages that our previous location simply couldn’t.

Anyhow, we wanted to offer a few sneak peaks at our new studio before we throw some paint and stuff on the walls. After all… as designers we have all kinds of ideas of what we’d like to do with the place!

If the photos don’t quite give you the full perspective, you are always welcome to drop by and say hello. Our regular hours of operation are 9AM to 5PM, but we frequently work extended hours. If the lights are on, you’ll probably catch us!

Video presentation from web-marketing guru Seth Godin on why the design of so many things that we interact with on a daily basis could be considered broken. This video is from a speech that Godin gave at the Gel Conference.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are aspects of my service or the products I sell broken?
• Do I truly care about the experience that my clients have?
• What can I do to ensure that the item(s) I’m selling meet my client’s actual needs, not just what I believe their needs to be?

You can visit the website that Godin founded at www.ThisIsBroken.com.

Overview of the Bozeman, Montana gas explosion

On March 5, 2009 at approximately 8:40am, 5 businesses were destroyed in the Bozeman explosion and several other Main Street businesses were damaged when a natural gas explosion occurred. While 11 people were originally unaccounted for; that number trickled down to 1 casualty – a 36 year old woman.

Most of the other facts of the Bozeman explosion are well documented by other media sources, including:

This stunning marvel of modern styling was caught in a parking lot in Bozeman, MT

The engineers at BMW and Subaru must have hooked up to create this bastard child!

Who knows what the list price is going to be on this beauty, but with options like this one has, I’m confident they’ll be flying off the lots like hot cakes!

This was the funniest thing I saw today, so I figured I had better share it with the world! Please notice the sleek new aerodynamic styling and custom bulldog and crossbones upholstery! If you were on the fence about purchasing a new beamer, I think these amazing photographs will certainly sway you. Look for this new model to hit showrooms around the world very soon!!!

While this isn’t the usual kind of post you will find here at Manifest Creative, I thought this was great example of how identity and branding can sometimes be confusing. Speaking of confusing, where do you think the owner of this thing gets it serviced? Oh yeah… judging by the looks of it, that probably isn’t an issue.

Anyhow, hope you got a chuckle out of this… I know I certainly did! Check back in soon for slightly more focused common sense marketing advice in future posts! Oh… and as always, please leave your comments below.

A Kid with an Eye for Design

I could say that I have been doing some form of art and design since before I could even hold a pencil… that is if you count the abstract artistry of smeared food on my highchair tray. Seriously though, I’ve always had a knack for the arts and a love for creative activities. If you need proof, just ask my mom. She would most certainly tell you that I had a fascination for coloring and drawing that was unmatched by my siblings.

The School Years

Throughout my years attending school I always excelled in art classes, and even when I was not in art class, art seemed to get me in plenty of trouble in my other courses. The teachers of my non-art classes were quick to discover that I had a severe habit of doodling and drawing while other work was supposed to be being done. I was always drawing or sketching something, but little did I know at the time that my love for the arts would eventually evolve into a career.

David M. Howlett

During those school years my art instructors realized that I had a natural eye for spacing and proportion, and a keen ability to convey my imagination through various forms of art. Utilizing this skill I ended up winning several awards, and even managed on getting some art featured on the Disney channel when I was still in elementary school.

Once in junior high school my eagerness for creativity grew even further, and I looked for other mediums outside of art class to feed my thirst. When my English instructors learned that I could write nearly as well as I could draw, they pushed me to join the school newspaper. This was a substantial pivoting point in my artistic life, because having a hand in designing for school newspapers is where I grew a true appreciation for typography and it’s relation to graphic design. I was hooked, and a new era in my artistic ability had emerged!

Here is where I’m happy to admit that I did not graduate with honors from some fancy school for art and design, in fact I have never been enrolled in any college for that matter. College simply wasn’t a financial possibility for me at the time I graduated high school, not to mention that my day dreaming nature had impacted my grades to a point where scholarships were pretty much out of the question as well. This made it an easy choice to jump right into the work force… effectively skipping “higher learning” altogether.

Out On My Own

My first few years out of school were interesting to say the least. Life as a young person living for the first time on my own was an eye opening slap in the face. I quickly learned that life isn’t cheap, so to pay the bills I went to work in the oil field… following down the path of my father.

My introduction to the gas and oil industry was on a greasy work-over rig maintaining and repairing oil wells all across Wyoming. This was the hardest work I had ever done, but the money was exceptional for how young I was at the time. It was during that period that I made the transition from a boy to a man, and also had the remarkable opportunity to work alongside my father.

Although I greatly enjoyed working with my dad, he always made a point to remind me that working in the oilfield was certainly not the best use of my talents. He had worked in the oil field most of his adult life, and he did not want that lifestyle for me. Now as I look back, I realize that it was largely due to his prompting that I decided to leave the oilfields behind to pursue my design career.

My First Real Graphic Design Job

There are not a great many design jobs to be had in WY, but eventually I ended up getting hired as a graphic design artist for the local newspaper. At the time I was highly under qualified for the position, but the advertising manager must have liked what she saw in my art portfolio and hired me anyhow. As a result, I had to self learn Photoshop, Illustrator and QuarkExpress all in the short time period of a little over a month… not an easy task I can assure you! This was a huge step for me, and I remember how proud it made my parents… especially my father.

My new job of designing ads for the newspaper was a perfect fit for me, and my artistic creativity really took off. After only a few months I was winning regional design awards and receiving a number of accolades. Within my first year I was promoted to lead artist… and under my artistic direction the newspaper was awarded the Wyoming Press Association’s yearly prestigious Excellence in Advertising Trophy several times over the next few years.

Sadly during this relatively high point in my career, I experienced one of the lowest points in my life with the devastating loss of my dad to a heart attack. He died at home on his lunch break from the labor intensive blue collar job that he had been working at for far too long. I’ll never forget him, and his faith in me is my inspiration to work hard at the life he wanted me to have.

Trying For The Big Time

The death of my father and my success with the News Record newspaper gave me the encouragement to try and move forward in my career. I was young and hungry, so I did what a lot of people do… I moved to California to try and make a name for myself. After all, I had big dreams and even bigger goals, so I figured Wyoming just wasn’t big enough for me anymore.

Well come to find out this hot headed designer from a po-dunk little town found himself a bit out of place in the Sunshine State. You see, back in Gillette I had been sort of a big fish in a small pond, but out in Cali I was just a tiny fry in an ocean of people. Although I tried extremely hard to make it as a designer in CA, I hadn’t put enough thought into just what “making it” would actually take. After only a few months of looking for work I ran out of money, so I tucked my tail and headed back to WY with just pennies to my name. It was a very humbling experience to say the least.

Back Home Again

Once back in the Cowboy State of WY, I took a job in the methane gas fields to get back on my feet. Yet again I resorted to the hard labor and long hours, but I needed the money and I was never too afraid of a hard days work anyhow.

Actually, at this point I was doing quite well, and quickly worked my way up the ladder. It wasn’t too long before I found myself the operator of my own rig, with a company truck, and a crew of a couple guys to oversee. The cash flow was excellent, and things were going great, but I constantly had the nagging feeling that the job I had was not what I was supposed to be doing.

It was the during this period that my girlfriend of the time decided to attend Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. I wanted to be closer to her and get back into graphic design scene, so I looked at jobs in and around Bozeman. That is when I saw a listing for an ad designer for the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, and knowing that my resume fit the requirement, I sent them my info. A few weeks later after negotiating some terms of employment, I was hired. I packed up everything I owned and moved to Montana… I was taking a huge pay cut, but I figured the sacrifice was worth it to immerse myself in the design world once again.

Designing in Montana

Designing ads for the newspaper came back to me like riding a bike… and I quickly back in the routine. I wasn’t making very much money though, so I worked only worked for about a year as an ad designer, before I realized that I could make better money selling the ads than I could designing them.

The need to make more dough helped in deciding to make the switch to selling ads for the Chronicle, and I did that for a few years successfully. Although I was a pretty good sales person, the whole time I kept getting in trouble from the ad designers because I was always designing my own ads for my customers. I guess I just couldn’t help it… I simply missed designing!

I have to admit that life at the newspaper was pretty good, and during my time there I was even responsible for changing the way the Chronicle sold color advertisements. It just wasn’t enough though… I still had a desire to grow my design skills, so I eventually left the Chronicle to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

Smaller Publications – Bigger Opportunities

Throughout the next several years I had the pleasure of being employed by a number of different regional publications that helped me to expand my skills and make connections in the industry. I owe a lot to these publications, and they granted me the opportunity to both challenge and showcase my talents.

Almost immediately after leaving the Chronicle, I took up shop as the layout artist for the Tributary. This was a new challenge, because I was completely responsible for the layout of the entire publication, as well as the lead designer for most of the ads. At the time the Tributary was locally owned and operated, which I found very appealing. I loved the independent nature of the Tributary, and the people I worked with at were simply amazing!

While designing for the Trib, I got the chance to work on it’s sister publication Explore Magazine and also made connections with the Big Sky Weekly. My connection with the Big Sky Weekly ended up being instrumental, because after only about a year with the Tributary it was bought by a larger state-wide publishing group. I soon found the changes and provisions of the new corporate ownership not to my liking, so in turn I quit and began working for the Big Sky Weekly soon after.

Yin Meets Yang

I attribute working for the Big Sky Weekly as being another pivotal point in my career, because it is where I was first introduced to Philip Downer. A funny thing to mention here is that due to some interesting circumstances at the time of our meeting, Philip and I had an honest dislike for each other at the beginning of our relationship. That still makes me laugh when I think about it today.

My first few months at the Big Sky Weekly I was working on selling ads, designing ads, and the complete layout of a new magazine called Custom Homes of Southwest Montana. While I worked on the magazine, Philip was responsible for a myriad of duties on the newspaper. Over the course of a few weeks though, it wasn’t too long before Philip and I buried our hatchets and began helping each other out.

Working together Phil and I made some realizations… we liked the same music, we had very similar interests, we were both self taught designers, and oddly enough, we even liked almost the exact same foods. After only a month or so of working side by side, we had actually become great friends.

A Partnership Takes Form

It did not take me long at all to realize the great number of talents that Philip possesses, and he thought pretty highly of my skills as well. It didn’t take us too long, to start having discussions of starting our own web development and graphic design studio. With Philip’s knowledge of the web and design experience coupled with my graphic design skills and artistic flare, we figured it was a no-brainer. A few months later we decided to give it a shot, and to our delight Manifest Creative was formed.

It has been over three years since then, and Manifest Creative just continues to build momentum. Initially both Phil and I started out running Manifest only part time, while holding down full time jobs as well. This did not last very long though, and to our pleasant shock, our client list grew rather quickly as we started taking on bigger clientele. Knowing we did not want to compromise our customer service, Philip made the choice to go full time about a year ago, and a large portion of Manifest Creative’s growth can be attributed to his efforts.

As for me, I also made the switch to go full time with Manifest several months ago. Although my true strengths are deeply rooted in print design, I have also been dabbling into web design quite a bit lately. I think my design skills will be utilized in the web arena more and more as time goes on. Even with the recent economic downturn, the future of Manifest Creative, and ultimately my future looks brighter than ever.

So Far and So On…

My life as a graphic designer up to this point has been pretty great so far. I truly believe I’m currently producing some of the best work of my career, and I’m excited each time I am faced with a new design challenge. Of course I have no idea what the next few chapters of my life have in store for me, But I can assure you that if I have any say in it… it can only get better from here!

Here is a quick post with an interesting animation of the progression of a logo. This animation is part of a logo design for the Esperanza Center in Bozeman, Montana. This non profit organization has been the beneficiary of some engaging pro bono graphic design and web development by Manifest Creative. If you want to learn more about this logo, please see the full article.

A couple months ago my business partner Philip and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Leif Hallberg of the Esperanza Center to discuss the possible revisions of the organization’s identity. Leif is a former horse trainer turned mental health professional, and she is also the Esperanza Center’s founder and director. The Esperanza Center itself is a 501 (C) (3) non-profit organization that provides alternative education and therapeutic experiences inspired by the natural world and horse-human interactions.

During the conversation Phil and I agreed to take on the Esperanza Center as a non-profit client and began formulating a plan for a much needed updating of the marketing materials and identity. The plan would include a new logo, business cards, informational brochure and other related items including a simple website.

Retiring the original logo

As any good designer knows, one of the first things you must iron out when working on any business’s  identity is the logo. As the Esperanza Center’s logo will be the key element in designing all the rest of the organization’s promotional materials, we decided to take a peek at the old logo. Here is what the original logo looked like:

My main concern with the original logo was that I felt it was very plain. I was also not a big fan of the fonts that were used or that the entire text of the logo was in all caps. It wasn’t a terrible logo either though, and I did like that the original logo had a few shapes going on that stuck out to me. Can you see the horse, the mountain and the tree?

After our review of the original logo, we collectively decided that the Esperanza Center would need a new logo to help better brand the organization. Even as we simply spoke about the concept of a new logo, my mind started to chew away on some ideas. As the meeting drew to a close Leif, Phil and I loosely organized a plan of attack and there was a buzz of excitement in the air

An epiphany of inspiration

Once the meeting was over and we had parted ways for the afternoon, it was time to head for the office and get to work. That is when it happened… on the way out to the car an idea for the new logo hit me, and I scrambled for a piece of paper to jot it down. I obsessed about it during the entire ride home, and by the time we made it back to the studio I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted.

That evening I eagerly dove right into Illustrator CS2 and rather quickly came up with a rough illustration. Being as the Esperanza Center specializes in the interactions between horses and humans for therapeutic healing, I wanted to make that aspect very apparent in the design of the logo. My intent was for a Yin and Yang feel between a horse and a human, and in doing so I opted for a circular design.

Once I had the general concept designed I ran the idea by my business partner. Philip really liked the concept, but he felt that the overall design was a little too abstract. He also mentioned that although the shape of the horse jumped right out at him, the human form was not very easy to discern.

Some quick edits

Still very encouraged, I decided to make another attempt at it before calling it quits for the evening. I should note that at this point I did not feel that the text of the logo was nearly as important of a factor as the illustration itself, so I opted to leave it out. With some quick editing I was satisfied with a “muppet-like” revised version before shutting the G5 off for the night.

The next day I decided to show the logo to some friends to get their valuable input. Again I was informed that they too found the human form a bit abstract in comparison to the horse, so I finally gave in that it was time to go back to the drawing board.

First series of major revisions

This time I wanted to make the logo dramatically more life like, so I worked on the hands, the head and the shoulder of the human form. By doing so, the logo really started being more than a simple illustration and more of a piece of artwork. Suddenly the illustration took on a sense of emotion all it’s own, and it began to really evoke feelings in the people that I was showing it to.

The hard part about doing pro bono work is finding the time to fit work on it between paying gigs. Since it had already been about a week and a half since our initial meeting, I decided that the time was right to show Lief the progress of the logo. So I arranged a meeting, and a few days later I was headed to the Bozeman Public Library with my laptop in tow for a mini-review.

While I waited at the library for Leif to arrive I was somewhat nervous, even though I was very curious to get her response about the proposed idea. This nervousness was due largely because Philip had recently spoke with her and through his description of the logo, she had not seemed very interested. So I did what I generally in do in those situations… I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best!

Once Leif arrived I was able to breathe a sigh of relief because the first review of the logo ended up being relative success. I showed Leif all three of the designs I had come up with so far, and she loved the concept. I opted to leave her with some prints of the designs, and told her to show the logo to some of her friends and also share it with the volunteers at the Esperanza Center. As we parted ways that afternoon I felt confident that we were on the right track, and I was very relieved to have passed the initial review.

Some constructive criticism

The holidays were sneaking up on us fast, and as Thanksgiving weekend came and went, I was out of touch with the Esperanza Center for a little over a week. Not too long after the holiday I got an email from Leif detailing her thoughts on version three of the logo. She gave me some great news by explaining that people were really connecting with the illustration at an emotional level, and that most people agreed that it was very “powerful”.

With the good news came a little bad too, because at the same time the illustration was receiving praise, it was also creating some general concerns. For one, people found it too hard to tell which way the human was facing – most people thought the human was facing towards the viewer, not towards the horse. This made the human form’s neck and shoulder look a bit funny, and in turn made the logo seem “distorted”, “uncomfortable” or just plain “weird”.

It wasn’t just the human form in the illustration taking criticism though, Leif was also told that the horse looked “scary” or “aggressive”, and some people actually suggested that the horse “resembled a dragon”! By taking these comments into consideration, it was now clearly obvious that further revisions were in order.

Getting better all the time

With the redesign in version four I changed the horse’s mane to look more like hair, and I gave the animal a more friendly eye too. I also changed the shoulder of the human form and added an elbow.

At this point I was feeling quite inspired, so I opted to play with some coloring as well. I really felt that we were getting the logo dialed in, so I also mocked up the logo text to go along with everything else.

I then sent the logo over to Leif for review with a good sense of optimism… I was confident that we were close to getting the logo finalized.

The next day brought a fresh email from Leif with additional suggestions and further praise. She wrote that people were remarking the logo as both “powerful and inviting”, and they agreed that we had “really came across something” with it’s elegant design.

That being said, they also commented that in proportion the human form was too big, and the horse seemed entirely too small. It was also stated that the human form still looked distorted, and people felt that the left arm of the figure was in a physically impossible position. The general suggestion was to make the human look more comfortable, smaller, and with more definition regarding what it’s body was doing.

Encouraged by the critiques

At this stage I engaged into further revisions with with renewed fervor. I made the human smaller, and revised the arms, shoulder, and hands considerably. I also tilted the head upwards. These changes again made dramatic improvements and it started taking on some very realistic qualities. Needless to say, I was very pleased as to what direction the logo was taking.

Feeling fairly satisfied with the entire logo, I sent an email of the revised illustration to Leif. To me it was really beginning to feel like a piece of art, and that brings a sense of pride that rarely comes from designing something as simple as a logo.

Leif called me back that very day, and gave me perhaps the best compliment on the logo that I had received thus far. She said that someone had told her the “the logo perfectly embodied the therapeutic bond between humans and horses.” This was exactly what we were trying for, and I was very flattered at the least.

Putting flattery aside, the conversation wasn’t all good news… it turned out that people who really knew horses still felt the left arm of the human form was at an uncomfortable/nearly impossible angle. This was a real sticking point, and I think both the Esperanza Center and myself were starting to feel some frustration. We weren’t about to give up on the concept though, because as Leif put it, “It’s just such a great design, we have to be able to make it work!”

Going to the source

The good news was that both the client and I were committed to getting the logo finished, but the bad news was that time was starting to run short. At this point Phil and I decided to head for one of our favorite coffee shops to meet with Leif and go over where things were at. As we sipped our hot drinks, we devised a plan to actually go out to the horse pasture with Lief for a photo shoot… thus ensuring I could get the dimensions spot on. Why I had not done this simple step to begin with is beyond me, and looking back I probably could have saved myself some valuable time.

A few days later Phil and I found ourselves out at the Esperanza Center, and snapped some photos of Leif hugging her horse. This made all the difference, and as soon as we got back to the studio it didn’t take long for me to knock out three more versions of the illustration.

I then showed the revised versions of logos to Philip and a few of my other friends and colleagues. After a short debate we all decided on the last version to produce for Leif and the Esperanza Center. I added the logo text to it and sent it off for another review.

Success!

“YES YES YES WE LOVE IT – GREAT GREAT WORK!!!!!!!” was the excited response from the Esperanza Center just a short while later. They said they couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out, and honestly neither could I. We are amazed by the response to the new logo, as it seems to really strike a chord in people who view it. I would dare to say that is one of the strongest logos I have produced in a quite some time.

Although we still have to decide what color the logo will be, the grey scale version is completely finished. The logo’s first use will be on this season’s holiday card which should be printed any day now. I can’t wait to see how it looks in print and I look forward to using it as we design the rest of the Esperanza Center’s materials.

An animation of logo progression

As a special treat, I offer a simple logo progression animation for the readers of this post. I think it is a great example of the tweaks that go into producing a great logo.

Well that is all for now, but keep checking in on us regularly as we will be keeping the blog updated with all kinds of informational and useful posts in the near future. In closing I hope that you all enjoyed this post and I beg you to please leave a comment on what this logo speaks to you personally.

Additional Info

For more information on the Esperanza Center and the services they can provide, please call Leif Hallberg at 406-600-4022. Some exciting news is that Leif has recently published a new book. If you are interested,  I invite you to check it out at http://www.walkingthewayofthehorse.com for more information.

Today, Google.com sent me an interesting press release. They’ve announced that their service “Street View” is now available in Montana. At first glance, it appears that a great deal of ‘metropolitan’ Montana is included in this release.

What is Street View anyway?

Street View is a part of Google Maps. There are 3 main types of views in Google maps that include:

1. The standard map view (similar to looking at an atlas)
2. A satellite/aerial view that shows all the topography
3. A hybrid view that shows the satellite view with street names overlayed.

Now, with the introduction of Street View for Montana you can also see 360-degree street level images of cities, towns and regions in our neck of the woods. Previously Street View was only available in larger cities such as San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.

You can activate Street View from any Google map by dragging the small orange “pegman” icon (located at the top left, above the zoom slider) over the map. Blue outlines will indicate where the street level vantage point is available.

Here’s a brief video overview of Street View and how it works…

So why should you care?

You should care because it introduces some unique aspects for your Bozeman, Montana website design. Let’s say for example that you are a hotel here in Montana. You’ve written about some of the tourist attractions nearby your lodge and you’ve shown the location using a traditional Google map. Now you can also show a virtual tour of sorts of nearby parks, attractions, shopping… the list goes on.

• Integrate it with your driving directions to make it easier to see the streets that accompany your directions.
• Show ease of access to those who may have disabilities (think medical office), to industrial partners (think delivery access), or if your business is located in an area of town that is considered difficult to get to or park at.
• Offer it as a tool to online users. If you’re a realtor, property developer, chamber of commerce or other community organization use Google Street View to let your web visitors explore neighborhoods, parks, business locations. Business associations can let their website visitors “walk” the downtown area where they are located.
• Here are ten other Street View Business Tips from Google.

Instead of me just telling you about this service, I’ve put together a few links to show you.

• Downtown Bozeman Map (Tracy and Main St.)
• Map of MSU – Bozeman (Grant and S. 11th St.)
• Old Faithful – Yellowstone National Park
• Going to the Sun Rd. – Glacier National Park
• Montana Capitol Building – Helena, MT
• Flathead Lake (as seen from Bigfork, MT)

Major Montana cities included in this release:

• Bozeman, MT
• Belgrade, MT (Just a little bit of Jackrabbit Ln.)
• Missoula, MT
• Billings, MT
• Great Falls, MT
• Helena, MT
• Butte, MT
• Kalispell, MT

Notably absent however is the ski resort destination of Big Sky, MT. While certainly not a major city, it is one of the most beautiful drives in Montana up Highway 191 to Lone Mountain.

How do I add Google Street View to my website?

Incorporating Google’s Street View is very easy and quite inexpensive for casual uses such as showing your business location. More advanced uses, such as using Street View to browse real estate listings, will require integration of your website with the Google Maps API framework.

Contact us for a few quick tips on setup and a free estimate.

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Chances are you have heard either Phil or myself mention the importance of creating quality content as a integral part of any search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

Recently we decided to take a better approach, and actually demonstrate the methods we use. Our goal was to illustrate how, by writing content targeted for specific keywords, you could take a top position in the Google search results.

Over the last few weeks I have been researching a hot topic… the economic downturn and what it could mean for small and medium-sized businesses. Knowing that this is a highly competitive topic, and the chances of our blog being found on a national level would be quite difficult. We decided to target all of Montana instead, allowing us to narrow our content to that specific region.

The top 5 key phrases we were targeting were:

1) Montana Recession Tips
2) Montana Recession Strategy
3) Survive a Montana Recession
4) Montana Recession Help
5) Recession-Proof Your Montana Business

I decided to name my blog post “Tips to Help Your Montana Business Survive a Recession“. It was first posted late at night on Wednesday 11/26/08. Once it was posted and live, I made sure to spread the word about the new blog post using some social media bookmarks – Stumble It!, Digg This, del.icio.us, and Yahoo Buzz. Phil also bookmarked the site on several sites as well to increase the exposure.

The results began showing up almost immediately! After just one day the blog was ranking well (first page of Google, but in the 10th position), and we were impressed. Still not completely satisfied and wanting more, we “tweaked” the content and edited some keywords and phrases within the post. That is when a scary thing happened… we couldn’t find the post in Google even by typing the exact name of the blog. I found out later, that this was because the blog was being re-indexed, and as a result it was temporarily “lost” in the vastness of the internet.

Over the weekend we breathed a sigh of relief when the blog showed back up on the radar, and all seemed well once again. Encouragingly it had even moved up a few spots (middle of the first page) on Google. On a whim, I then decided to submit the article to a few online media resources as a possible story submission. That was the last thing I did before heading for bed on Sunday night the 30th of November.

Then came Monday morning, December 1st… SUCCESS!!! The blog was holding the number one spot in Goggle for several of our targeted key phrases. Additionally I was quite excited to open my email program and find out that the post had been picked up and featured on a few Montana information websites… back-links included! Needless to say we were delighted.

As I write this message, we are happy to report that currently the blog post is doing very well, and traffic on the ManifestBozeman.com website has had a nice influx of new readers as a result. We wanted to share this with you as a case study of sorts, and we’d like to invite anyone reading this to cut and paste any of the five key phrases above into Google and see the results for themselves.

In conclusion, we couldn’t be more satisfied with the articles performance, as we have already far exceeded our expectations! That being said, we are happy to report that because the blog post was fairly comprehensive and touched on a number of topics it is ranking very well for a great many other unexpected keywords and phrases as well. We believe it a testament to the power of blogs, and more importantly an example of how publishing good content can play a key role in the success of your SEO strategy.

Thanks!