In a recent review of the top blogs by financial advisors from all across the country, the Registered Rep. website identified their Ten Best Advisor Blogs of 2011, and a whopping 50% of those blogs were designed by Shawn Hesketh of LeftLane Designs, through our collaboration with WIRED ADVISOR™.
The blogs were judged on the quality of writing, thematic relevance, professional and personal balance, frequency of posting, and the appearance/design. Every one of these five blog designs are powered by the WordPress web publishing system, and utilize the Canvas framework, which adds common features like social media integration to the sites, while still enabling us to create a completely unique look and feel for each blog, based on each advisor’s personal brand.
As you can see in the screenshots below, each site has its own distinct design, although they’re all powered by WordPress and built on the Canvas framework, which makes it easy for WIRED ADVISOR™ staff to update and provide support for each financial advisor in their blog network.
WIRED ADVISOR™ is dedicated to helping financial advisors accelerate their online marketing efforts, and have strategically partnered with LeftLane Designs to create strong online brands, custom blog sites, and effective social media strategies for financial advisors.
Congratulations to each of these financial advisor bloggers on a job well done, and thank you to WIRED ADVISOR™ for the opportunity to partner together over the past year and a half to create these and other design projects!
View the full article, and the other five blogs. →
It isn’t often that I’m given the opportunity to design a website for a product I love and use on a daily basis. So, I was thrilled when asked to redesign the website for WishList Member, a powerful plugin that transforms a regular WordPress site into a fully-featured membership site.
From the initial phone conference with the company’s founders, Stu McLaren and Tracy Childers, I knew that this would be a fun collaboration, and a great fit. To be honest, I’ve never had a client bring so much useful information to the table during the preliminary meeting. These guys had a clear idea of how they wanted the site to function and what features needed to be included — along with dozens of examples from other sites. This information was welcome, and made the design process flow smoothly, without wasting effort on multiple design iterations.
Read the rest of this article »
“How much for a logo?”
If I had a dollar for every time I was asked this question, I would never need to work another day in my life.
The truth is… it depends.
What role will this logo serve in your marketing efforts? Are we talking about a simple text-based logo, or do you need a carefully-crafted icon that will be instantly recognized worldwide? In what mediums will your logo be reproduced? Will this logo instantly distinguish you from your competition, or are you simply wanting your company name typeset in something other than Times New Roman?
Asking, “How much for a logo?” is not entirely unlike asking, “How much for a house?”
Read the rest of this article »
It isn’t every day that you come across a company that truly values their customers. Sure, most companies give lip service to “customer support,” but we’ve all had those nightmarish experiences while attempting to return a defective product or request a refund for a broken item. This is why my recent experience with the folks at Trexta came as a pleasant surprise.
I recently purchased a protective case for my iPhone. After weeks of online research, I had finally settled on the Racing Series iPhone case by Trexta. I instantly fell in love with the embroidered white racing stripes against the matte-black leather, so I ordered the case from a 3rd-party vendor on Amazon.com. It was a little more expensive than other cases I had found, but I have no problem paying a bit more for a well-designed product.
Read the rest of this article »
Founded in 1993, Hearthstone Management, Inc. is one of the nation’s premier operators of assisted living communities for older adults. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Hearthstone manages 37 communities throughout the United States, all designed to meet the needs of the growing population of seniors who require assisted living services.
Despite having built a strong reputation for themselves in the industry, upper management realized that their website and marketing approach had grown stale, and felt it was time for a change. Due to my previous work and ongoing partnership with Senior Service Match, I was invited to participate in the redesign of Hearthstone’s website.
Read the rest of this article »
What's next? View our portfolio, read more about leftlane, or get in touch!
Complete the simple form to the right, and I'll be in touch, usually within the hour. Or, you could simply email me at: info [at] leftlanedesigns.com
Request a Logo Design Quote »
Request a Web Design Quote »
While not the best way to get in touch with me, you can call me at the office at 832.632.7289 (9a-5p CST)
