Can it be twenty years? Really? In 1999, I hatched a plan and stepped out into the unknown of business ownership. But how did I land here? Sure, I flirted with the idea of being a freelancer designer/marketer in my 20’s. But building a client base and filling in much of the needed business acumen was not quite my forte … Read More
When a Marketing Pro Has to Face the Music: New Website for Grotto
How many times can we make that joke about the cobbler’s kids never getting new loafers? Lots more times because the metaphor is still true. Well, this marketing gal and web spinner finally got around to giving the Grotto Communications website an much needed makeover. How to Decide What to Keep and What to Toss in a Website Redesign Reworking … Read More
When Disaster Strikes: Tibet Earthquake Relief
Our priorities sometimes seem as sure and solid as the ground. We wash the dishes. We pay the bills. We go to work, school. Then something happens to really shake things up. On the morning of April 14, 2010, an earthquake struck a remote area of Tibet. The damage was catastrophic. Some kids didn’t make it to school. Some who … Read More
Evanston Bike Race Speeds into Town July 19th
Pro cycling with a full-on family festival fills Downtown Evanston, Illinois, as it hosts the NorthShore University HealthSystem Grand Prix (the bike race formerly known as the “ENH Grand Prix of Cycling”). Mark your calendars for Sunday, July 19, 2009. A circuit through the main streets of town will be closed to cars as elite amateur and Olympic-level pro cyclists … Read More
BirthLink.com Welcomes New Arrival
Redesigning the web site for Chicago’s premier birth and wellness resource provider, BirthLink.com, actually took…wait for it… nine months. Grotto partnered with founder Jo Anne Lindberg to rethink how the site was structured and design a robust new portal with easy access to the provider directory and birthing and health info, as well as Jo Anne’s own health-related business, Life … Read More
Sometimes You Just Need to Ask for Help
By nature, small business owners have a real DIY attitude. You have to when you wear that many hats: ceo, marketing director, receptionist, coffee maker/fetcher/cleaner-upper. It’s a great, and probably necessary trait. But successful entrepreneurs also need to know when they need help. Maybe it is high time you hired an intern for some marketing assistance or a bookkeeper to … Read More
Grotto Communications Celebrates 10 Years!
We are delighted to commemorate 10 years of providing our brand of marketing communications services to SMBs (small- to medium-sized businesses). The path has been sometimes up and sometimes down (and sometimes it was hard to tell which was which!). But reaching this milestone is a testament to the success of our methods and to the quality of our clients’ … Read More
ARTbody Gets in Shape: New Logo, Website from Grotto Communications
Angela Renee — creator of ARTbody: Angela Renee Technique, a unique approach to body sculpting — came to us looking to create a brand identity to represent her unique fitness program. Inspired by some sketches of the human form by Angela (she’s an artist as well), the Grotto team crafted a round mark with a curvaceous flow. Modern, feminine fonts spell out … Read More
Redefining a Web Presence for Chicago HD
Congratulations to Chicago HD as we launch the redesign of their web site this week. Founder and principal Steve Panning asked Grotto Communications to bring the site for their high-def video editing studio up to now. First, we tackled the information architecture to help visitors navigate to what they wanted to know more efficiently. Then, the design began to take shape … Read More
Watch for Ways the World Will Market FOR You
I’m not sure how it happens. I truly don’t give the Olympics a second thought as they approach. Then. Suddenly. I spend night after night watching remarkably fit and focussed youngsters (mostly) performing their feats. Funny, the things you begin to notice. Just as I wondered aloud if the spike-tastic beach volleyball stars, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, were sporting … Read More
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