Our Blog
Every week we post something new to our blog – a new employee Q&A, an opinion piece about web design, cool & new things happening in the tech industry, and so much more. We know the web, and we want to share news and helpful tips with you so you can get the most out of your website – even if you don't have a website built by Visionary.
10 Tips to Better Your Social Media Game
Published on: Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Be authentic – With so many businesses fighting for attention on social media, make sure you are being true to who you are and conveying a message you can stand behind. Be clear – With the short attention spans of social media users today, you need to take all the guess work out of it for them. From the moment they click on your business profile, they need to know what...
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Get to Know: Data Analyst Donovan Day
Published on: Monday, August 27, 2018
Start off by telling everyone about yourself: I am an adventurous and tireless person. I have a beautiful, smart, driven and overall amazing wife who was my high school sweetheart. We now have 4 dogs, 3 Pitbulls and a Chug (Chihuahua pug). I love working with my hands and do many woodworking and home improvement tasks. I am a huge Star Wars, LOTR,...
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Quality over Quantity: Instagram’s New Time Limit Tools
Published on: Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Instagram’s latest update encourages users to step away from the app. But could their encouragement of time limits lead to greater success for the company? These new tools invite users to limit the time spent on the platform. This could be seen as the opposite of what most companies’ goals are: to spend as much time using the app as possible. But the...
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Happy World Emoji Day 2018!
Published on: Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Main image courtesy of Daniel Bussius Consulting. Emoji plural emoji or emojis : any of various small images, symbols, or icons used in text fields in electronic communication (as in text messages, e-mail, and social media) to express the emotional attitude of the writer, convey information succinctly, communicate a message playfully without using words, etc. Today is considered World Emoji Day, and because of that, I wanted...
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Visionary is Our Name, But Volunteering is Our Game…
Published on: Thursday, June 28, 2018
VTO – What is it? VTO, also known as Volunteer Time Off, is a benefit that some companies extend to their employees as a way to better connect to their outside community. The company designates a set number of hours that each eligible person is able to take to use towards serving various organizations in the surrounding area without having to take from their PTO/Vacation. Does Visionary...
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"I Didn't Mean to Apply Here": The Art of Not Selling Yourself
Published on: Wednesday, June 27, 2018
“I didn’t mean to apply here” probably isn’t something you should say during an interview. For me it was true. I didn’t mean to apply to a web development company. I was looking for an arts-related communications internship. Where I meant to apply was Art Week Des Moines. When I reached out to see if Art Week had a communications internship, my resume went to David, the founder...
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Get To Know: Production Specialist Erin Vance
Published on: Wednesday, June 20, 2018
What is your professional background? Spent many years in retail management type positions before coming here. What are your hobbies outside of work? Painting, making jewelry and rehabbing old or damaged furniture. What have you enjoyed about Visionary so far? The atmosphere and the people are fantastic. Where is your favorite place to eat in Des...
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Get To Know: Software Developer Adam Logan
Published on: Monday, June 18, 2018
Start off by telling everyone about yourself: I grew up in Urbandale with 2 siblings, a brother (older) and a sister (younger). My dad is a programmer, using COBOL, and a businessman. I grew up loving computers and always enjoyed learning about them from my dad. Although I am a quiet person, I love to travel, try new things, and ride my bike. What is your...
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Get To Know: Summer Intern Mark O'Meara
Published on: Thursday, May 24, 2018
Mark grew up in Indianola Iowa where he graduated High School. He’s currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering at Iowa State and finished his Sophomore year this May and will return for his Junior year this coming August. Visionary is his first Software Engineering related job but he’s also worked for the Indianola Parks and...
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Get To Know: Summer Intern Audrey Ward
Published on: Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Here at Visionary, we're pretty excited to welcome Audrey to our team! She will be directly helping the Contract-Dev team this summer and we fully anticipate her making her mark in the coming weeks! // Audrey grew up in Ames and is currently studying Public Relations and Event Management at Iowa State University. Before landing her summer internship...
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From Mad Men to Modern Day: What the 60's Taught us About Advertising
Published on: Tuesday, May 15, 2018
In a time of shag carpet, psychedelic tie-dye, cult classic music and plaid button-down shirts, the 1960’s had its fair share of fast-paced moments. Transition to today, 2018 seems to be a whirlwind of continuously advanced technology invading our everyday routines. While nearly 6 decades separates these 2 time periods, there are still similarities that highlight how advertising has evolved from then...
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Reaching Your Customers Through Email Campaigns
Published on: Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Email has now been popular for more than 20 years, and we are only tapping into its possibilities. Awareness is a thing of the past; engagement is everything, and email is the platform to build the relationship through knowledge and interaction in a noninvasive environment. Subjective subject lines A major component to every email is the subject line, and...
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The Voice Assistant Revolution
Published on: Friday, April 13, 2018
There is no denying the growing presence of technology in our lives today. Even if you try to actively avoid it, it seems like more and more, the devices we utilize for our daily tasks involve some sort of voice technology…or will. Voice assistants have become vastly popular and seem to be a household staple these days. I happen to own an Amazon Alexa Echo Dot but...
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How A Children's Book Can Improve Design
Published on: Thursday, March 22, 2018
Recently, I’ve discovered a new phrase I’ve been saying more while planning and designing projects and discussing how features will work. “If you give a mouse a cookie…” Used as a prompt to make sure all options have been considered, it’s the title of a book from my childhood, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, written by Laura Joffe Numeroff. Others may be familiar with a few...
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A Crash Course on Social Media ROI
Published on: Wednesday, March 7, 2018
I once heard that social media is like the fun, unpredictable uncle of the marketing family. While some of that may be true as marketing trends seem to adjust and change daily, there are ways to expect the unexpected and see trends that can help you determine strategies to execute for the best results. People tend to view social media’s return on investment (ROI) like how an unceasing distant aunt at family reunions looks at you for the first...
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