You’re trapped inside a large, featureless office building.

You’re supposed to gather supplies and prepare them for transportation back to camp. But horrible scratching and thumping noises make it difficult for you to complete your task. The zombies are outside, trying desperately to find a way in. They know you’re in the building, and they’re starving for a taste of your brain.

This scenario is precisely how team members with anxiety, depression, PTSD, schizophrenia, and even eating disorders can feel while working unless their employer considers their mental health needs. In fact, mental health is something that should be considered for every team member… regardless of a diagnosis.

What can a business do to create a more inclusive, nurturing, and understanding work environment for team members with these mental health challenges? In other words, how can an employer protect their team members from getting bitten by clamoring, clawing zombies?

A Guide to Workplace Zombies:

Unlike real zombies (or should I say, “the fictional impression of a zombie”), workplace zombies are not as easily identified. They aren’t covered in mold and dried blood. In fact, they don’t even have bodies. They’re more dangerous than that; they exist as worrisome concepts, scary ideas, or warped perceptions of reality that can’t be held at bay with walls or soldiers.

These can be exacerbated by the real-world challenges in the workplace of tight deadlines, understaffing, inflexible hours, harassment or bullying, lack of co-worker support, isolation, a negative workplace culture, poor work/life balance, and more.

Some businesses can be filled with uncertainty, negativity, and stress. In such an environment, workers can be endlessly distracted by the scratching and thumping of hungry zombies.

Hold the Workplace Zombies at Bay

The zombies are here. And for those with mental health issues (and we all have our mental health battles to fight), these nagging zombies will even follow them home after work. But what can an employer do to increase their team members’ comfort and productivity levels at work?

In her Harvard Business Review article, Katherine Ponte suggests that employers/supervisors prepare themselves by learning everything they can about how different psychological disorders can affect a person at their job. Then, watch for signs of a team member struggling.

Once spotted, a manager should choose a good time to approach that team member, start a conversation using supportive language, and explore ways of alleviating that person’s stressors.

Some team members may need a chance to go for a brief walk a few times each day or work outside for a while. They may need support from a co-worker or just need to talk to someone. Others may be stressed about bills and be best served by an advance on their pay.

Clarissa Windham-Bradstock suggests in her Forbes article that companies create a mental health strategy to better combat the mental health zombies:

• Invest in making sure team members feel safe, valued, and heard.
• Educate all team members on working alongside and including those with mental health issues.
• Create tools for team members to balance their work and home life better.

As with all other facets of business, communication is critical. The worst thing an employer can do about mental health problems at the workplace is nothing. When mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and others aren’t discussed, they remain taboo topics that team members will feel embarrassed to talk about with anyone. They will have to fight the zombies with no backup.

Rock Paper Simple’s Thoughts on Mental Health

We believe that mental health is relevant for everyone and that we often neglect our mental health in ways we never would for our physical health. Taking care of our minds somehow always seems like a second thought or less important than anything taking place at the moment. 

We feel so strongly about this. Rock Paper Simple and Mendx Studios (our sister studio) created a documentary in partnership with some awesome investors called Breakthrough: A Mental Health Journey, which tells the stories of a diverse group of people and their own mental health journeys. Its purpose is to destigmatize mental health and show that we all have our own mental health battles… we believe it will help bring positive change to how Americans view mental health. 

So how does an employer invest in the mental health of their team members? We don’t claim to be the experts in this area, but we have a Purpose Statement here that is simply, “Because People Matter” and is a great place to start. Determining that people are our focus means we must always understand how what we do affects the people we work with and work for.

Here are just some things we emphasize and do to invest in our team’s mental health:

• Work Life Balance – We won’t always claim to win the battle against the zombies in this category, but we work very hard to protect our team’s work life balance as much as we can. This starts by simply committing to the fact that it is important to your organization’s culture… from there, it will look different for every organization. 
  • One practical way we do this is to monitor bandwidth and ask our team members each week to report on their scorecards on a scale in terms of workload and how much time they are working extra each week. This allows our team leaders to identify if someone is consistently putting in extra time and come alongside them to find out why to determine what can be done. It’s terrible for a team member to get burned out because their team didn’t know they were burning the midnight oil.
  • Another option is to give opportunities for team members to put in extra hours to earn additional PTO or other incentives. We have recently been experimenting with methods to implement this. As a small business, we know it can be challenging to balance taking care of your people and keeping the numbers out of the red, but it can be done!
• Chaplains – One really impactful thing we do is engage with Marketplace Chaplains, which assigns a diverse team of chaplains to each company. They are nationwide and affordable. These chaplains make regular weekly office visits and are always (24/7) available to team members who need someone to talk to about anything from mental health issues to spiritual struggles. While faith-based, they never overstep, and the well-being and privacy of each team member come first for them. 
  • While everything they speak about is confidential, they report each quarter regarding how many private conversations were had (not with who) and the high-level topics. They often include family, health, faith, parenting, marriage, and sometimes really hard conversations such as death and conflict.
  • Chaplains can be a huge backup in the fight against the zombies, but there are other options, too… some organizations provide prepaid mental health therapy sessions you can provide to your team as a benefit.
    
    
• A Safe Work Space – We have heard how influential a good culture is for so many reasons, but none is quite as crucial as a safe place where voices are heard, and there is trust between team members, leaders, and all involved in the organization. If your team can’t trust those they report to, dig deeper and find out why. We operate on an EOS system that provides a framework for clear accountability, vision, goals, responsibilities, and methods to bring issues to the surface.
• Learn Together – We recently began reading the book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team to dig more into how we can better operate as one unit and respectfully handle conflict in a way that makes us all better. This makes for a healthier team, and a healthier team can beat back those zombies of mental health oppression more effectively.
• Some other tools in our toolbelt include Redirect Healthcare‘s free virtual mental health counseling, an emphasis on healthy conflict, benefits like every other Friday on-call, and a limited set of monthly work-from-home days.

This is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of ways you can invest in your team’s mental health, but are some ways we do it here. Sharing these might inspire others to invest further in their teams. Let’s fight back against that zombie apocalypse and make our workplaces better for the people there!

Finding your roadmap for a successful social media marketing strategy can be largely beneficial to your business. It acts as a quick and convenient form of communication, a diverse platform to share information and interests, and a modern way of putting your image out into the world. As a business owner, your company website and office will always be the central places of contact with current and potential clients. However, social media presents an additional option.

Social media offers the opportunity to create a more personal and casual outlet for your audience while maintaining a professional atmosphere. And with multiple platforms readily available to customize to your business’s vision, you can make your social media into your ideal image. Rock Paper Simple is here to help you achieve that image, whether you work with a small business or a larger corporation. Whether you are unsure of how to start using social media for your business or you want to improve your presence on a current platform, Rock Paper Simple is ready to support you and has a few tips for a smart social media strategy to apply when creating your page:

1. Community: The best way to begin is to determine the target audience(s) you’re trying to reach. This will help you decide what social platforms to use and how to communicate with followers on each. How you interact with your audience and the tone you present yourself with can determine what kind of response you receive.

2. Content: Research what kind of content your followers will engage with on each channel. Be sure to highlight things that interest them, showcase your expertise, and provide thought leadership in your industry. You want to put out content that informs your audience of your business while keeping them engaged. 

3. Curation: Content curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way. Sharing helpful resources or tips provides value to your audience. It is important to know what and how much content to put out. You want to be informative and concise without overwhelming your audience. 

4. Creation: Creation is the act of creating content online, whether it be in the form of text, images, or video. According to Convince&Convert, the sweet spot of content curation to content creation is a 60/40 ratio: 60% curation and 40% creation.

5. Connection: Connection is about analyzing what your audience likes and dislikes about your content. The goal here is to gain a deeper understanding of your followers and appeal most to them. Depending on their engagement with your posts, your content strategy may need to change. 

6. Conversation: Conversation is the act of engaging back with your followers. This is key to building a strong, loyal community. Remember, social media is a way to build a more personal relationship with your present and future clients. Having an open communication channel can make all the difference for your business’s future. 

7. Conversion: Conversion is the ROI (return-on-investment). Here, it’s essential to analyze how many followers are taking action. Your social media strategy should connect to your business strategy, and as such, metrics like awareness, sales, and loyalty need to be measured.

Social media offers the opportunity for your business to strengthen and grow. The Social Media Marketing team at Rock Paper Simple is here and ready to help you achieve that goal. With our dedicated team of members working with advanced social media marketing strategies, we can benefit you in your financial services, nonprofits, content, and overall mission. We will help you succeed in expanding your business to new audiences and creating a more significant relationship with your clients. 

Akin to stagehands in theater productions, metadata is the seemingly invisible behind-the-scenes aspect of content creation. However, search engines see these hidden words as the absolute forefront of website copy. 

Tags, slugs, keywords, alt text, descriptions, and image files names all tell the search engines what to see. But, going without this metadata can drastically reduce your online visibility and search rankings. 

Like real estate’s almighty factor of worth based on location, location, location, metadata’s true value is about content, content, content. Word. But what exactly are these five elements of meta, why is each one important in its own right, and how do they boost your position on page results? Let’s explore each one further to find out. 

Tags

Much like the tag on your t-shirt, coded meta tags indicate what the published material (fabric content) is composed of. While there is contention as of late as to whether or not meta tags matter anymore, the consensus is yes, this snippet of HTML code (in conjunction with quality content) still plays a vital role in SEO.

Slugs

Slugs. They’re not just for gardens. Slugs make up the last portion of domain names and are meant to be an accurate glimpse into what can be expected from a particular page on a site. Instead of relying on auto-gen slugs, craft them yourself to customize them to mirror your sitemap and copy. 

Keywords

Are you all a-buzz just hearing the word keywords? Join the keyword-obsessed club. An SEO must-have, keywords are the simplified summary of all your web page’s content, allowing search engines a quick glimpse into what you are trying to convey. 

Alt Text

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, alt text is necessary for anyone using the internet that’s visually impaired. Alt-text is a written description of an image (no, it’s not worth 100 words, as the cliché says) that’s a short phrase to portray a picture, graphic, logo, video, or animation. 

Descriptions

Let’s talk length. Device width determines the visible character count of your site’s meta description. Most mobile devices topped out at 120 characters, while computers show up to 158 characters (both of these numbers include spaces).

Image File Names

Logically naming your image files to reflect what is represented in the image doesn’t just make a whole lot of sense to other humans. It also makes sense to the algorithms which control search engine results. Make it a best practice to name your images according to their content while avoiding long strings of auto-generated numbers. 

If your published website lacks complete metadata in the backend of your site, you are not alone. But, never fear. Our Content Writing Team and SEO experts are here! Contact Rock Paper Simple to see how we can boost your position through the awesome marketing power of meta.

SSL stands for secure sockets layer. If you are looking at your website URL and do not see https:// in front of it and only http://, then chances are you do not have an SSL certificate. So what is it and why do you need one?

Having SSL enabled on your website, ensures that your data is encrypted or scrambled to make it unreadable as it passes through the internet. When you send data like usernames and passwords or complete a webform online, the SSL will encrypt the information you type as it passes through the internet from your computer to the destination server. As your inputted information makes its way through the internet, it may pass through several servers on its way to the destination server. 

Once your encrypted information arrives at the destination server, it is then unencrypted and read by humans. If you do not have an SSL enabled, the data can be read by anyone as it passes through the various servers on the way to the destination server. A  “man in the middle” could intercept the information you sent from your computer to the webserver and potentially lead to fraud and identity theft.

But how many types of SSL certificates are there, and what’s the difference between them? To date, three variants exist, Domain Validated (DV SSL), Extended Validation (EV SSL), and an Organization Validated (OV SSL). 

The lowest level of security for a website is DV SSL, which offers protection without the wait time and vetting of an OV SSL, which is the next rung-up in security. Both provide the Secure Sight Seal seen in website footers. An EV SSL certificate is the top-tier for optimal site security and is used primarily for businesses and government agencies. 

SSL can help by:

1. Protecting your data
2. SSL affirms your identity
3. Better search engine rankings
4. SSL enables you to satisfy PCI/DSS requirements
5. SSL improves customer trust
6. Preventing web browsers from displaying “not secure” warnings

So if you want visitors to trust your website and to feel safe, you must have an SSL certificate installed on your website. Not only will you give your website visitors some peace of mind, but you will also receive other perks such as those mentioned above by making sure your website has an active SSL certificate installed.

That being said, SSL certificates do not last forever. When an SSL expires, it needs to be updated. How is this accomplished? SSL certificates are purchased annually through online vendors. Be sure to renew your certificate once a year to keep it active!

When you think of any well-known company, you immediately imagine that company’s logo. For example, when you think of McDonald’s, the first thing that comes to mind is the famous golden arches. The importance of a logo goes way beyond just one singular symbol or descriptive lettering. Put it like this — the face of your company is represented through your logo. It’s the first impression of your brand, and it’s what leaves a lasting impression on the consumer. 

You may think a logo is just one simple design, but there are many aspects to consider when creating one, including different formats. The idea of multiple logo variations is called a multi-purpose logo or a responsive logo. With today’s devices like tablets, mobile smartphones, and even smartwatches, the need for multi-purpose logos has increased. Logos need to impact your consumers, whether that be when scrolling through Facebook or looking at a billboard on your drive to work. 

What are Multi-Purpose Logos?

Multi-purpose logos are different variations of your brand’s primary logo. As stated above, you want your logo to apply to any format so that it can still leave a lasting impression, no matter the platform it’s being shown on. Multi-purpose logos need to fit the scale across all channels and devices. The smaller the scale, the more simple the logo variation needs to be. 

Why Multi-Purpose Logos?

The most impactful logos are simple. But while simplicity is key, you also want your logo to be functional. This means that it can be easily adjusted to fit across a multitude of platforms. Your logo also needs to work just as well in black and white as it does in full color. Having a primary logo, emblem, wordmark, and alternate logos will allow your brand the flexibility to create a strong identity. Multi-purpose logos are becoming more and more essential as technology advances and trends arise. They develop character, build brand identity, and allow consumers to interact with your brand in multiple ways. 

Benefits of Multi-Purpose Logos

If you aren’t already convinced, let’s talk about the benefits of multi-purpose logos. When your company has a multi-purpose logo, this creates consistency in your branding as a whole. We all want our brand to stand out, and having a solid multi-purpose logo will achieve that. Multi-purpose logos also build and maintain a visual for consumers across all channels, ultimately leaving a lasting impression on anyone who sees it. When your brand has a versatile logo, you build the freedom to engage with your consumers on a whole other level. Brand loyalty is essential, and multi-purpose logos will help your company culture shine through and become widely recognizable. 

Tips on Creating a Successful Multi-Purpose Logo

The steps to creating a successful multi-purpose logo are simple if you have the right mindset. When designing, you want to avoid intricate patterns and fine details to ensure the logo is versatile and effective. In this case, less is more! If you’re having trouble finding ways to simplify your logo, try brainstorming designs that involve removing images, lettering, and exchanging brand colors. Following these guidelines will allow your logo to work in any environment, on any platform. 

As you can see, the importance of multi-purpose logos is crucial in creating a lasting impression for your brand. Remember, multi-purpose logos are not different designs of your logo. They are simplified versions that include the same watermark, colors, and other elements of your main logo. Brand identity is essential in representing how your company is perceived, and having a strong multi-purpose logo will help achieve that. 

Are you looking to redesign your logo or build one from the ground up? At Rock Paper Simple, we’ve got you covered! Turn your brand into a tangible asset and make your business goals become a reality! Visit our branding services page to learn more. 

The American Advertising Federation (AAF) was founded in 1905 and is the world’s largest advertising trade association. Each year, the AFF hosts a nationwide competition through its local chapters to reward the spirit of creative excellence in advertising. 

This year, Rock Paper Simple entered into the 2020-2021 AFF Space Coast competition and was honored to take home eight coveted Addy awards — three gold and five silver! Not only do these awards speak to our team’s hard work, but also the work of the brilliant organizations we’re lucky to call our clients!

2020-2021 AFF Space Coast Gold Addy Awards

The first Gold Addy Award our team won was for New Life Mission’s rebrand project that included a new name, logo, brand guidelines, messaging, core values, collateral material, promotional videos, and more. It was critical to choose elements that would speak to the impact of the organization and the transformative process participating women go through. As a result, the main design element featured throughout New Life Mission’s brand materials is a butterfly with a celebrating woman as its body. 

Another Gold Addy Award we received this year was for our “Meet Jane” video. This video overviews Rock Paper Simple and the services we offer. 

The last Gold Addy Award our team won was for the Brevard Zoo’s Animal Guardian campaign. This campaign was a joint effort with Artemis and had the goal of raising enough funds to support the care of 4 animals at the zoo, including a cheetah, black bear, white rhino, and giraffe. In the end, we’re proud to say this campaign raised $3,410!

2020-2021 AFF Space Coast Silver Addy Awards

Rock Paper Simple also had the pleasure of working with Artemis on their new website build, which happened to be a 2021 Silver Addy Award winner! Artemis has a vast array of services and solutions that our team was able to organize and display purposefully to ensure a smooth user experience.

Another Silver Addy Award recipient was our “What is Story” video. This video explains the concept of storytelling and communicates the thought process behind each project completed by our in-house video production team.

The next 2021 Silver Addy Award recipient was the Melbourne Regional Chamber’s Space Coast Staycation campaign! This campaign’s goal was to drive the local economy by helping residents plan the perfect #SpaceCoastStaycation in support of our tourism-based businesses. 

In addition to winning a Gold Addy Award for their rebranding, New Life Mission’s website won a 2021 Silver Addy Award!

Our team wanted to provide the organization with a beautiful platform to enhance donor confidence and designed their website to clearly communicate the nonprofit’s mission. The butterfly was used as an animation element on the home page, adding a unique effect! 

The last 2021 Silver Addy Award was for our work with Carroll Distributing Company. Our team loved collaborating with this locally-focused, family-owned business to create a brand new website that showcased their services and love for the Space Coast.

Some important elements in the website build included the incorporation of hand-drawn elements into Carroll’s extensive history through an engaging timeline to show the birth of the company and its evolution over time. Our team also created a catalog system so that potential customers could see the selection of beverages Carroll has to offer. 

Thank you to the AFF Space Coast for hosting an incredible 2020-2021 Awards Show. And, thank you to our clients and marketing partners for placing your trust in us. While we’re honored to have received the recognition, the real win is providing value to those we serve! 

If you would like to learn more about each of these projects, navigate to our portfolio!

“We are officially a GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch honoree! Wow!

An organization like ours only exists and reaches forward to great things because of the people that are part of it. This honor speaks to our team (past and present!) that has put in so much hard work, the mentors who have spoken to us, the clients that have invested in us and the community that has embraced us. We couldn’t imagine doing this anywhere else… with anyone else!

I prayed every month for five months while I was working on getting Rock Paper Simple launched that the Lord would bless our path forward, or stop me from starting it altogether. Here we are, almost eight years later with a team I couldn’t be more proud of…those prayers were certainly answered. 

I am filled with gratitude to all those who have contributed to making Rock Paper Simple into not only what it is today, but what it will be tomorrow.

Ever Forward!”

Creating a strong email marketing strategy for your business helps you to connect with your target audience in a personalized way and increases sales at an affordable cost. According to Statista, the global email user count is set to grow to 4.3 billion by 2023. [1] Further, DMA found that every dollar spent on email marketing creates an average return of $42. [2] Awesome, right? Below we’ve laid out a few key tips to consider when building your email marketing strategy to ensure its success! 

Build Relationships

When using email marketing for your business, it’s important to keep building relationships with subscribers at the forefront of your approach. People often join email lists not because they want to buy a product but because they want to learn more about a company. So, while increased sales might be a short term goal, engagement and a strong following is the key to driving success long term. 

Use CTA’s

In an email campaign, CTA’s (call to actions) are essential. If they aren’t crafted in a way that encourages subscribers to click on a company’s message, the campaign results might fall short. Three important questions to ask yourself when creating CTA’s are: “Is it descriptive?”, “Is it easy to act on?”, “Is it hard to miss?”. 

Maintain Contact List

The last critical email marketing tip is to keep your contact list up-to-date, especially if you’re using a service provider like SharpSpring or MailChimp. Inactive subscribers and email addresses that are no longer used negatively affect your deliverability rate, bounce rate, and overall sender reputation. To refresh your list, use a validation program like ZeroBounce. These types of programs will make sorting through your email list easy and efficient!

To wrap it up, here’s a short checklist of basic steps to take when creating your own email marketing campaign!

▢ Build a subscriber list (and keep it updated)

▢ Create a clean email layout

▢ Keep subject lines short and catchy

▢ Tailor emails to be mobile-friendly

▢ Include interesting CTA’s

▢ Test emails before they’re sent

▢ Track data

▢ Provide value! 

Resources:

[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/255080/number-of-e-mail-users-worldwide/

[2] https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/marketers-email-tracker-2019.pdf

The Melbourne Police Department (MPD) is dedicated to the citizens of Melbourne and their quality of life. Department personnel work closely with business partners, neighborhood watch groups, and community leaders in an effort to reach mutual goals and foster a strong, committed partnership.

Rock Paper Simple’s video production team worked closely with the MPD to create a recruitment tool that would highlight the organization’s various capabilities. This project aimed to instill excitement and drive within potential recruits to join the MPD and take part in their incredible work.

The video had an immediate impact on the MPD, filling every job vacancy within the agency. It also won multiple American Advertising Awards and was rated by the organization Police One, as one of the top five recruitment videos in the world. 

Our team had a blast working on this project and are thrilled to have helped the agency reach its recruitment goals!

A huge thank you to Marc Claycomb and John Chapman for taking the time to film this testimonial video. We are very appreciative of everything the Melbourne Police Department does to protect our community! Be sure to check out the agency’s recruitment video here!