Revamping Your Website

It was a tricky and timely process, but we finally got there… Our new website is finished! And we learned a lot along the way. Here are six tips to consider when revamping your company’s website.

1.      Create 3-5 “benefit statements”

Before you start diving into color schemes, background images, and all that fun stuff, create 3-5 “benefit statements.” These are things that you want people to “take away” after visiting your site. Your audience needs to understand what benefits you bring to the table and they need to gain an understanding of this within the first couple minutes of visiting your site. Questions to ponder when creating benefit statements:

o   What can we do that no other company can?

o   Why choose us over a competitor?

o   What misconceptions do people have about our company?

o   What has made our company thrive?

2.    Consider ALL of your audiences

As a market research company, we have many different audiences looking at our site. We have repeat clients, potential clients, current research participants, and others who are “information seekers.” You need to make sure your site caters to all audiences’ needs. Along with that, think about what your site is doing for each of your audiences, and make it easy for them to find what they need.

3.    Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water

Your old website was perfect at one point in time, so there are still some good pieces of it that can be worked into the new site. Much of our content was the same, so we used a lot of the old wordage and just updated it and organized it better.

4.    Incorporate social media

Having a social media presence on your website is crucial. Regardless of how many Likes or Followers you have, the social aspect on your website makes your company look modern and easily accessible. Add the social media icons on to your site or add a feed if you are frequently posting updates. To better promote your online brand, your social sites and your website should work seamlessly.

5.    Ask your colleagues for feedback!

You can get a totally different perspective if you look from the outside-in. After looking at your website over and over, you may be blind to some things that others see when they go on to your site. Asking colleagues for their input about your current site will help in the development of the new website, and will give you better insight into what your audience actually sees when they are on the site.

6.    Consider where your audience will be accessing your site from – laptop, tablet, mobile phone, etc.

Everyone is on-the-go today and going online in many different ways. This is plain and simple: Make sure your website can be easily viewed and read from all mobile devices. 

Another Way to Spring Clean

Today marks the first day of Spring, so the annual “Spring Cleaning” begins! When I hear cleaning, I think: Vacuum, Garbage bags, Windex, Mop, Soapy water. But our list of Spring Cleaning items will not have you reaching for any of those! Since many people now look on Pinterest for the best way to clean a microwave or creative ways to organize your closet before actually doing it, we thought it would be appropriate to have a list of Spring Cleaning items related to Social Media and Technology.

Facebook

Do you ever scroll through your Newsfeed and think, “Who on earth is this person?” That’s a sure sign that you need some Facebook Friend Spring Cleaning. Go through your list of “Friends” and unfriend those who you really don’t know (trust me, everybody has them!) If you have never spoken with one of your Facebook friends in person, there is a good chance you do not need to see what they are eating for lunch every day or what their new car looks like. But don’t worry, when you unfriend someone they will not be notified, but you will be removed from their friends list as well. Also, depending on where you work or play, you may want to consider cleaning out your Facebook pictures, too….. Need I say more?

Mobile Device

Look through your contacts and weed out those people who you never call or text. If you haven’t contacted them in a couple years, delete! It will save you time in the long run and save up some space for downloading another version of Angry Birds. Speaking of apps, if you have only used the app once, delete it! (Ahh, doesn’t that feel good?) If you’re an Apple user, here’s a tip. When you remove an app through one of your devices or through the Apps screen in iTunes, it does not delete the application off of your computer. In order to permanently delete from your hard drive you need to delete it through the iTunes library.

Email

We all have been there… Looking for one email but can’t find it amongst the hundreds of others. It’s very advantageous to create email folders. If you’re a Microsoft Outlook user, it is super easy to create folders and to organize emails. If you click File, then Manage Rules & Alerts, you can create rules that send emails into a specified folder based on words in the subject line or body of the email, the email recipients, etc.

Docs

It is smart to save some of your documents for a few years, especially business documents. You never know when you will need it, right? But if you haven’t looked at the folder or document since 2007, it’s time to dump it in the recycle bin! Sort all of your folders or docs by date, and you will be surprised by all the “trash” you have saved up in there.

Do you have any other social/tech related "cleans" you'd like to share? We'd love to hear!

Let the deleting begin!

Lindsay Moore

Project Director

What Does Your Desk Say About You?

Take a glance around your desk and what do you see? A mug with yesterday morning’s coffee stains? A smiley face stress ball or a quirky little figurine? A trail of multi-colored post-it notes leading to stacks of papers that look like a Jenga game?

You may not regularly notice these little “gems” around you, but your co-workers and boss sure do – not to mention clients! Sam Gosling, a personality researcher at the University of Texas, Austin, claims, “I've come to believe that what's going on outside the mind reflects what's going on inside the mind."

Therefore, if you are among those who plays the game of Hide And Seek every time you go to look for a paper, that may reflect you are disorganized and have too much going on. Take an inventory of what you have around your desk; weed out the stuff that’s old, taking up space, or just plain useless. If you’re an awesome multi-tasker and have multiple projects going on, find a way to neatly organize projects in a manner that works for you, but makes it look like you have your ducks in a row.

But wait, what if your desk is spotless? (Ha..) No one would ever guess you are a father of four, a KISS enthusiast and an all-star quarterback on your buddies’ flag football team.  What does that say about you? You’re organized, focused on your work and have everything under control, right? Or could some see your overt tidiness as “no fun” and little creativity?

Some say, you should always keep your personal life and your work life separate. Personally, I think that is getting more difficult to do as the times change. That line is getting quite blurry. I think it is good to let a little of your personality shine through at work. Of course, it needs to be appropriate and it doesn’t need to be over-kill. A small family photo or a picture of your favorite lyrics would be appropriate (as long as those lyrics aren’t, “I want to rock n’ roll all night, and party every day!”). It’s all about finding a good balance and ultimately, creating an environment that you’re comfortable in and one that doesn’t hinder your productivity.

It’s your turn:

• What does your office/desk space look like?
• How do you feel about “personal touches” at work?
• Do you find yourself more productive when everything is neat and tidy? Or are you able to work amongst the clutter and manage many things at once?

I can’t wait to get your feedback!

Lindsay Moore

Project Director

Why Sandy Hook is Different

I turned on the news as soon as I got home.  Less than five minutes later, I was crying.  Horrible images flooded my mind: the fear and confusion of those little ones in their last few minutes, trying to imagine what was going through the shooters mind as he looked at their terrified bodies.  One journalist had to compose herself before detailing the story of one teacher, who told her students there was a wild animal loose in the school.  As the day concluded, I could read the emotional exhaustion on each reporter’s face. 

Some say our country is a violent one, and there is no single explanation for it.  The chart above shows the number of mass-killings per year for the United States and 23 comparable countries... we are a clear outlier.  Here are some other interesting facts:

--- Since 1982 there have been over 60 mass-killings in the U.S. 

--- Worldwide, 15 of the 25 worst mass shootings in the last 50 years took place in the U.S.

--- Finland took second place in that list; they had two.

Despite witnessing fifteen years of school shootings, this is the first time I have imagined my mother, a 5^th grade school teacher for over 25 years, using her body as a shield to protect her students.  Why have I not considered this before? Why is it that since last Friday, I have not gone one hour without thinking about those innocent babies?

There is a reason I am just now connecting the dots between these shootings and my mother.  There is a reason this destruction has gripped the nation by its heart.  When we think of violence in America, we think of dark city streets and gas station robberies.  We don’t think of 1^st grade classrooms full of six and seven year olds.  While violence is an everyday part of the world we live in, it is not of our children’s world.  Before last Friday, each of us kept our children secluded from the tainted, violent world around them.  Today however, many parents across the country will delicately explain to their young ones “what to do if...”  We used to think of elementary schools as sheltered and secure.  Now we are forced to visualize classrooms erupting in chaos and terror.  We see teachers as sources of creativity, passion and knowledge.  Now we also picture them struggling to keep intruders from powering through their classroom door. 

Many people have read the chilling article “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother.”  It is written by the mother of Michael, a 10 year old boy who is mentally ill.  He has unpredictable violent outbursts, sometimes threatening to kill his mother or family.  Her two younger children know the drill: when Michael starts screaming, they run to the car and lock the doors. 

After reading this article, I searched for other stories and blogs of parents raising children with a history of violence.  I read one particularly disturbing blog about Rachel, a 12 year old girl that has (what I would describe as) sociopathic tendencies.  After Rachel tried to burn down her home with her mother trapped inside, the family decided they could not feel safe with Rachel living in their home.  She was sent to a residential home for the mentally ill.  Despite efforts from the family, the girl remains un-evaluated and un-diagnosed.  The facility regularly tries to give Rachel back to her family.  They reason, “She has been great all week!” while the next day, she sexually assaults two staff members. 

It was a violating and wretched thing that happened last Friday.  These are the sad truths we have to live with.  We all mourn for the victims and their families.  But we can’t leave it at that.  We must begin the dialog for better mental health awareness and support.  Poor understanding and low resources have denied Mental Health the attention it deserves.  If we want to heal from this tragedy, if we want our children to remain our children, we must take action.

I'd appreciate hearing your comments and thoughts about this issue, and what this tragedy has made you think about.

Lisa Rodgers

Research Analyst 

What it means to be a "Pittsburgh Fan"

Being from the “Steel City,” I know first-hand what it means to be a die-hard fan. Us “yinzers” are so passionate and loyal to our sports teams, no matter which ones, or what their records are (“cough” Pirates “cough”), we love ‘em no matter what! Pittsburghers have always been proud of where they come from, which carries over to our sports teams. The passion and loyalty exuberating from a Pittsburgh fan dominates any other teams, even at away games. An example of this can be seen at a Steeler's away game where our fans are often overwhelming to the opponent, and at times, forcing the home team to play like they’re the ones on the road. Those yellow terrible towels whipping around in the air can be a distraction in itself!

One of the coolest parts about being a Pittsburgh sports fan though is that, I’ve traveled to some pretty far places, and no matter where I am with Steelers/Penguins/Pirates apparel on, I always find another loyal Pittsburgh fan willing to make small talk. I can remember sitting in the Charles De Gaulle Airport outside of Paris France with my dad who had a Steelers hat on, and you wouldn’t believe how many comments we got from random people like, “Go Steelers!” It was fascinating that we were in another country, over 3,000 miles away from Pittsburgh, and we found people who recognized the Steelers logo and were fans too! This shows how many people from all over the world know of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania because of our sport teams, adding to the list of reasons to be proud to call Pittsburgh my hometown!

• What are you a passionate fan of and how would you describe your passion?

I can't wait to hear your feedback!

Alexandra Johnson

Project Coordinator

A Merry MOORE Christmas!

We are kind of like kids when it comes to holidays here at Moore Research, we love a good reason to get together and celebrate! The scent of fresh baked cookies is wafting through our office, a fine display of homemade snowflakes, glowing lights and ornaments are hanging all around.

We celebrated early and had our annual Christmas Party last night. It was full of laughter, cheer, gifts and goodies. We had a cookie decorating station, where we loaded frosting and sprinkles on to sugar cookie cut-outs. We had a hot chocolate bar with plenty of marshmallows and chocolate treats! A dinner of rigatoni's, meatballs, chicken, potatoes, fish, salad and rolls was enjoyed by all (yea, we like to eat!). It was catered by Teresa's in Erie, we highly recommend them! 
The White Elephant Exchange, which always proves to be a humorous tradition, was a hit yet again! Here’s how it works:

1. Each person brings in a wrapped gift ($10 value).
2. Everyone puts the gifts in the center of the table.
3. You then draw numbers, and if you are number 1, you get to pick the first gift. (I put numbers on the bottoms of candy canes and had people pull out a candy cane to find their number!)
4. You then open the gift for all to see.
5. Number 2 then has the decision to steal Number 1’s gift, or pick a new one of their own. If they do steal, number 1 has to pick again. (No steal-backs!)
6. And so on, and so on..

It is "ideal" to have the highest number, that way, you see all the gifts out there and have the last chance to steal (or end the pain and pick the last gift on the table)!

I know stealing sounds harsh, but it’s all fun and games….right?  

• Do you celebrate Christmas at your workplace? What do you do?
• Have you ever participated in a White Elephant Exchange?
• Do you have some holiday party tips to share?

Lastly, don't forget to check out our full album of pictures on our Facebook page J

Happy Holidays! 

Lindsay Moore

Project Director

College Student To Marketing Professional

Most everyone goes through it nowadays, that couple of months where you have to drastically switch gears from the careless, late night college student, to an early morning, full-time professional. There is no option to wake up tired and think, “I’ll skip class today” and sleep until noon (even though I think I’d like to sometimesJ).  This past Spring, it was time for me to get serious and no longer have that college mentality. This rite of passage is a part of life that sometimes isn't the easiest, but it is well worth the outcome of being a “grown up.”

Waking up early those first couple of months was rough as I wasn't used to going to bed before 2 am, and needless to say, I relied heavily on Starbucks and energy drinks to get me functioning at 8 am. Luckily, I started working for Moore Research part-time while finishing college, which gave me an understanding of what I would be doing and who I would be working with, making the transition into a new job with a new company much easier than I expected.

Now, I've been at Moore Research for 7 months, and although waking up at 7 am isn't any more glorious, I don’t mind it because I enjoy my job, making it worth getting up and coming to work every day.

• What made your transition between college days and working full-time a little easier for you?
• How important do you think internships are while you are in college?
• What’s your go to food or drink when you need energy in the morning? 

Alexandra Johnson
Project Coordinator