Easily Upload an MP3 Greeting to Your Google Voice Account

Does your Google Voice outgoing greeting sound terrible?

Did you record it via phone? Would you prefer to have a crystal clear, professional greeting? Here’s how.

(This applies to Mac only. I believe PC just needs to select Mix in the sound input based on this helpful link.)

I’ve been completely stumped by how little information seems to be available for this simple process. I’ve seen videos and Quoras that have offered elaborate paid solutions–one was to buy a $99 app!

The solution is actually free and simple, once you already have the audio file you want to use. If you don’t have a file you like, jump over to Fiverr. There are plenty of voice artists there that will not only do the voice but can also lay it over a music track if you like. Make sure you listen to the examples though because not all of the Fiverr talent uses pro equipment and the resulting quality of those will be disappointing. Here at Spark, we have audio/video capabilities but used PhoenixPro for the voice and she did an amazing and high-quality, professional job.

Ok, once you have your audio file (MP3), go to your GoogleVoice “Settings” by clicking the gear icon at the top right of your screen.

Next, click “Voicemail” in the visible left text menu.

Then scroll to the “Record a Greeting” button that appears in the main area of the page.

Clicking that button will pop up the microphone button. Don’t click it just yet. If you do, you’ll likely get some pretty poor quality results, possible including your mouse clicks and ambient room noise.

First, you need to connect the audio signal from your MP3 playback directly to the Google microphone, so it won’t pick up any other noise or spatial echo–but how? Easy! Here’s the magic. Trust me, even though it requires an app download, it only has 2 steps. Just download the free SoundFlower app. Install it (follow the prompts) and select it in your audio output selector under the Sounds icon in your preferences panel. (see image) Make sure you remember what your settings were originally so that you can reset them after you’re done.

(Shortcut: Option-Click the speaker icon in your top bar for a convenient drop menu selector, as shown below)

Confession, there are two options. I didn’t bother trying the Soundflower (64ch) option because the (2ch) worked so well.

Ok, queue up your audio file in Quicktime so you can play it quickly after you start the Google microphone.  (Have it easily clickable in a window next to your browser.) Simply click the Google Voice microphone button, then immediately start playing your audio file. Stop the Google microphone when it’s done playing. You won’t be able to hear it as it plays–you’ll have to watch the playback timer, but you’ll see the Google icon pulse with the sounds, letting you know it’s working. That’s all there is to it. Test the Google Voice file to make sure it sounds good to you and then click Save. (It gives you the option to redo it as well.)

Don’t forget to reset the original audio settings. Now you have a nice clean, professional quality greeting on your Google Voice greeting.

9 Effective Usages of Color in Branding

Good color selection can change your brand marketing effectiveness.

It is often the goal of companies to make sure their customers understand what they stand for or what they are about. And there are a lot of ways to convey a brands vision, goal, or core principle. It can be expressed outright, printed on posters at their offices, displayed at the about section of their websites, or perhaps integrated on their design. The most successful at achieving this goal are the ones who know how to utilize a proper design, because after all, people are visual, and they usually gravitate towards brands that are visually aesthetic. And one important aspect of a good design is the effective use of colors. Colors convey and elicit emotions, they also add layers to the visual aesthetic of a brand.

But it is not just about choosing the right colors for your brand. An effective way of using colors for brand recognition is by utilizing the color palettes not just in the brand’s logo, it should be properly integrated on their websites, store fronts, products, promotional materials, and even staff uniforms.

With this, we look into 9 brands and their effective use of their colors to convey what their brand is all about.

1. Lufthansa: Like most airlines, Lufthansa uses blue which represents the sky, but their effective use of Maastricht blue signifies reliability, clarity, and value which makes their use of yellow accents give a good contrast to show brightness, optimism, and exclusivity.

https://www.lufthansa.com

2. Bank of America: The use of blue in banking institutions is common as it denotes trustworthiness, dignity and authority. Pair that with a good use of red to show strength, power, and being straightforward. Bank of America utilizes the American colors of red, white, and blue well on their website.

https://www.bankofamerica.com

3. Airbnb: Airbnb’s use of Sunset Orange gives a sense of softness and hominess while at the same time giving a sense of passion. The use of teal gives a cool contrast which is easy on the eye and gives a sense of rest and relaxation.

https://www.airbnb.com

4. Cadbury: Purple and Gold on their own already gives a sense of luxury, combined it gives a sense of royalty. Cadbury’s use of these colors gives the idea that their product is rich and premium. Purple also gives a sense of magic and playfulness which sits well with the brand.

https://www.cadbury.co.uk/

5. Amazon: Orange denotes impulse, activity, and action, which serves Amazon well as their brand relies heavily on their customers need or impulse to buy. The color is utilized well on their brand and UI which customers can identify with so well.

;” https://www.amazon.com

6. Nvidia: A lot of tech companies rely on the use of green for their products or services as it represents freshness of ideas, innovation, creative solutions, and forward thinking. Afterall, green does mean go, so it also imbues positive action and growth. Nvidia use of green in contrast with black gives a striking impact that their company is about positive and forward solutions.

7. Apple: Though Apple have utilized a spectrum of colors throughout their brands history, their proper use of gray, black, and white is still what gives them the premium feel. Black usually gives a notion of strength and confidence. Partnered with the softness of white and neutrality of gray, the color palette gives a sense of sophistication and luxury while appearing clean and straightforward.

https://www.apple.com/

8. Chick-Fil-A: Red. One of the most used colors in marketing, and for good measure, as it easily captures the attention of the customer. Red is also said to thirst the appetite that is why it is commonly used by food products. Such is the case for Chick-Fil-A. Their website contrasts red with white which is a classic approach for branding, but their use of red and white shows balance as the red is mainly just an accent on the website to make their products pop out in the white background.

https://www.chick-fil-a.com/

9. Lego: The color wheel. Lego effectively uses the color wheel to showcase the diversity of their product. Being a toy line, they effectively catch the attention of customers by playing with all the colors available to their line. This ispresented on their website with a clean UI and with white being the background, the products pop out easily and the website is easy on the eye despite the plethora of colors used.

https://www.lego.com/en-us

Bounce Rates. What’s The Deal?

Stop visitors from bouncing away from your content.

So, you have run a successful SEO campaign and your website is picking up traffic, but you’ve noticed that visitors to your site are not going beyond the page they have landed on and often leave right away. And you wonder, what’s the deal? Well, that’s what bounce rate is all about. Site visits not going beyond the initial page visited.

It is important to note that Google Analytics is your best tool when it comes to tracking the bounce rate of your website. It technically defines bounce rate as such:

“A bounce is a single-page session on your site. Bounce rate is single-page sessions divided by all sessions, or the percentage of all sessions on your site in which users viewed only a single page and triggered only a single request to the Analytics server.”

Now, unless the only objective of your website is to provide information to its visitors then a high bounce rate is not entirely bad as visitors can leave as soon as they have read what they needed, but if your goal is to capture customers and you need them interacting with your website more, then you would definitely want a lower bounce rate. This is why it is important to understand why your visitors are leaving as soon as they got in to your website.

Here are a couple of reasons that drive a bounce rate up:

1. Your website might be taking forever to load.

A slow webpage will definitely push a visitor back to where they originally came from and might even push them to utilize another website that offers the same product or service where they can be accommodated better.

2. Incomplete website.

Links that are not working, pages that are under construction, and purposeless elements in a website all contribute to a bad user experience which will increase your websites bounce rate.

3. Confusing user interface.

There is a reason why investing in a good UI/UX developer is a great idea as they know how to make sure that your website is user friendly. And when your customers are comfortable, they’ll have no problems navigating through to your website.

4. Poorly designed website.

It’s not just about having a good interface but also about having a visually appealing or engaging website. A website should not just be easy to use but also easy on the eyes. And it is through a properly designed website can you really imprint a good brand to your potential customers.

5. Your website might not be optimized for mobile browsing.

Solely relying on a desktop friendly website nowadays is a bad idea. The current trend is to make sure that your website is navigable for mobile users as people tend to use this more than their desktop computers when they want to search for a product or a service.

9 Reasons Why SEO is Good for Your Business

SEO is well-known and often misunderstood and mysterious.

Understanding what SEO is is one thing but knowing why it matters is another. As it is now common knowledge in digital marketing that SEO is an important tool for any business who wants to increase website traffic, it still pays to be reminded of the benefits one can get from it. And no matter the changes in the digital marketing world, having a good SEO strategy remains to be one of the best investment a business can have.

Here we outline 9 reasons why SEO is as relevant as ever.

1. Search engines are the go-to place of customers.
Customers rely on search engines to try and solve something or try to find something, and they can be very specific with what they need or what they want, so being visible is the very first thing a business would want if they wish to utilize this pool of customers. Ranking high on search engines makes your brand accessible and accessibility builds credibility.

2. SEO is practical and cost-effective.
Since it’s the customer who is actively searching for the products or services they need through search engines, being accessible or visible here saves your business the effort of having to reach out to them. Saving money as opposed to spending in ad campaigns and outbound strategies.

3. SEO results are trackable and measurable.
Tools and even SEO agencies are readily available to measure and track the results of your SEO strategy. From the traffic generated, lead generations, to conversion and sales, it is possible to measure the success of this marketing strategy for you to be on top of your campaign making your brand more relevant.

4. SEO levels the playing field.
With an effective SEO campaign, even small businesses can rank close to bigger and larger companies in terms of visibility and accessibility. With SEO, not one company can hold a monopoly of this important asset, those who utilize SEO well can be rewarded too.

5. SEO makes your business more valuable.
Because you are visible and can generate quality traffic to your site this puts a significant value to your business. Customers have a mindset that those who are on top of the list are usually the ones who can deliver the product or the service that they need, increasing the trust that customers give to your business.

6. More customers will see your content with SEO.
It is not just about being visible but also about being relevant. The more quality traffic you generate the more customers will listen to what you have to say or offer and this can give your business an edge over the competition.

7. SEO will help your business improve.
With more traffic comes more reviews and feedback. This will significantly help your business understand what it lacks and what it needs to retain the traffic it gets. The opposite also applies, you will only know if the user experience is great if there are users who frequent your site. This gives the opportunity for self-assessment and improvement which will ultimately result in better user experience for your customers.

8. SEO increases sales and revenue.
Having mentioned all the things above, what remains most relevant is the power of SEO to increase the sales and revenue of your business. It will be inevitable that the quality traffic you generate through SEO will result in conversion and sales giving you more reason to invest in this strategy.

9.SEO builds brand recognition.
With visibility, credibility, relevance, a great user experience, and increased sales your brand then becomes easily recognizable, leaving an imprint to your customers to help them keep on coming back. This will also generate referrals which will ultimately help your business grow beyond the initial market that you’ve tapped.