I love donuts. Glazed are my favorite with chocolate glazed, jelly and lemon filled coming in close runners-up. In fact, I can't be held responsible when left alone with a bag of those powdered sugar little donuts. But I digress.
Dunkin' Donuts as a chain of stores has certainly redefined their business. Expanding the width of their offerings while maintaining the depth of their sugary, doughy goodness. This is critical because they're now able to make those health nuts happy and not veto an otherwise donut-hungry group in breakfast transit.
The chain itself has reworked its graphics to appear more active and added many new menu options for those who want to eat healthy and quick on a budget. In particular, the store found on Hendersonville Road in south Asheville is a well-oiled machine and worth a few observations. Yes, you can get your grub and coffee by drive-thru because of the perfect choice of location, but this is better quality than your standard egg mcmuffin. Lunch options too. Lots of low fat, high fiber choices. AND they taste good. I've tried a few. Of course, you can still pick up a dozen donuts for the office or a few for your Sunday morning with the paper. Thankfully. Because it just wouldn't be Dunkin' Donuts otherwise.
The best part of this specific store is the team behind the counter. Every person has a job coordinated with every other. No big innovation there except they're actually doing it. And everyone seems happy to be there and doing a good job. And yes, I watched a mistake happen and watched it corrected in a flash with a smile. So my hat's off to the management and staff. I've gone to this location three times in the last month and it's been consistent every time.
And Now for the Big News...
I am relocating to Durham, NC. What does this mean to you? It means that if you send me payment by check, you'll need to use a different address as of June 9th:
903 W. Maynard Ave., Durham, NC 27704
That's the only change. For the half of my clients who live in Asheville, meetings will still be possible as my family and friends still live here and I will be in Asheville frequently. I will send out notices when I will be in town so that you may schedule a face-to-face meeting with me if needed. Otherwise, you can still reach me at my cell phone (828) 242-1027 which will be a local call for you.
Many of you also reach me by instant messenger...either Windows or Yahoo versions. And I do have a video camera should you really miss seeing my face and want to video chat.
Windows Live Messenger >> meridiandesign@hotmail.com
Yahoo Messenger >> hexdexus
In the short term, I will not have computer access for one week, June 7th-14th, while I move my material life from here to there. However, my cell phone will be in my pocket at all times. So if you need me, you will be able to reach me.
So why am I moving? My partner, Annah, has decided to continue on for her PhD in Art History at UNC and we've just spent the last 2 years apart while she earned her Master's. So enough is enough. I don't want another 4 years of the same.
FIRE SALE
Great Art, Cheap Prices
I'm clearing out my studio and offering quite a load of paintings at incredibly cheap prices. These are first come first served. Cash or check only. If you're interested in making a purchase, let me know straight away.
Here's where to go to see the works available >>
http://www.heather-gordon.com/fireSale.html
Liz Aiello website launched
Voiceover is a fascinating field of work I knew nothing about before handling the redesign of Liz Aiello's website. Liz offers voiceover services and comes equipped with an ISDN-ready studio for quick file delivery. Her website offers video and audio demos along with an extensive photo gallery of her acting experience.
Poster Design for UNC
I had the pleasure of designing an 11" x 17" poster for the Medieval & Early Modern Studies department at UNC in Chapel Hill. My design made use of a portion of a Theodore De Bry engraving which was then digitally hand-colored using a graphic tablet. Big fun.
Waechter's Moves to a New Location
Waechter's has had a long history. In fact, as far as I understand it, they are the oldest continuously operated fabric store in the US. They have moved from their Charlotte St location to their new home in the Biltmore Village area in Asheville at 9D Reed Street.
Read what they have to say about their new home >>
A Sense of Humor Has Moved
Yes, they moved less than one block away from their old location to 2 Battery Park Avenue. Why did the humor store cross the road? To get lots of foot traffic and a prominent storefront. Good luck in your new home.
Read the Sense of Humor blog to find out more about this business >>
George Widener Monograph Published
Henry Boxer Gallery presents the first book about recent discovery and savant artist George Widener. His extraordinary detailed drawings are filled with numbers, numerical palindromes, calendar calculations, shipwrecks and invented cities. Renowned critic of outsider art Roger Cardinal provides the essay.
See George's website >>
Read more about The Art of George Widener >>
Marie Bartlett Publishes Her 4th Nonfiction Book
The Frontier Nursing Service is a colorful account of the first 40 years of America’s first rural nurse-midwife service and school. The story is told in human terms, focusing on how such a successful organization was built out of commitment and compassion against all odds. It covers dozens of midwife cases, examining the fascinating interaction between the local residents and the brave nurse-midwives who rode first on horseback, later in Jeeps and other forms of transport, to improve the lives of eastern Kentucky families and to reverse the highest infant mortality rate in the country.
Find out more about this book including vintage video footage >>
10 Ways To Put Your Content In Front Of More People
from *Smashing Magazine* by Paul Boag
Which is more important, driving traffic to your website or encouraging as many people as possible to see your content? Believe it or not, they are not one and the same.Too often, we as website owners live and die by web analytics applications. We fret about bounce rates, unique visitors and dwell time. However, when we focus so heavily on the performance of our website, we miss a fundamental point: we should aim to expose users to our content, not our website. The website is a tool to showcase our content, but it is not the only tool that does this.
Forget About SEO Content, Create Videos
from Miva Merchant Ecommerce Blog by Mark
Everyone says content is king in the SEO world and most people think this is strictly text content. Amazingly though videos with very little text content (a title and description) can be your most powerful content for optimizing search rankings and potentially your conversion rate. Considering 77% of people online watched a video on the internet in November 2008 and since this online community are making e-commerce purchases; you want to be in front of this growing crowd.
Social Media Profiles as Tools for Links and Traffic
from Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch
There are many reasons to get more involved in social media sites. Content creation and discovery, lead generation, and networking just to name a few of the benefits. However, even if you’re not ready to jump in with both feet and create fully a engaged presence on popular social media sites, you should still take the time to create and optimize profiles on a number of sites as a way to control more web real estate and, in some cases, create high value links back to your primary web pages.
I contend that the three most important factors for SEO and small business sites are 1) high quality, frequently updated content 2) properly formatted HTML and 3) high quality links back to your site. Social media sites are an increasingly positive way to get some on #3 knocked out.
David Lynch Presents: Interview Project
20,000 mile road trip across the US, 121 strangers, 4-5 minute interviews. This is a must see. Starts Monday, June 1st at the David Lynch website.
My name is Heather Gordon, and I am the creative vision
and solitary grunt behind Meridian Design. I work with my clients throughout
the US and Canada to create unique designs for web and print, and provide
guidance in SEO and marketing strategies.
Although trained as a visual artist, I have owned and operated two small businesses, taught courses in art, provided computer training, and have been a public speaker on the subject of online marketing and search engine optimization.
For more information about me and my work: