WYSWYG LLC.

WYSWYG is short for “What Ya See, What Ya Get”. The words we live by, the reason why our clients come back, refer us, trust us with their brand strategies, websites, products and marketing campaigns.

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Notes From The LaunchPad

Demo Day  Special Edition!

Wow! What an AMAZING day! Thank you to the more than 200 investors, mentors, entrepreneurs, tech enthusiasts and media who came out to support our teams. We had a great day and hope you did too! We could not be more proud of each LaunchPad 2 company as well as the founders. Thank you for a great Demo Day, and more importantly for an amazing summer! Beyond the excitement of the week, we're very pleased to welcome our newest mentor, William Reinisch, a Venture Partner with Paladin Capital Group. We look forward to getting you involved.

Feel free to contact us with questions and, of course, share with your friends and colleagues--anything to help strengthen the NJ startup community. Cheers, TechLaunch Team

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Tech hopefuls hoping for liftoff at Montclair State hosts - NorthJersey.com

TechLaunch, a North Jersey technology accelerator, hosted its second ‘Demo Day’ at Montclair State University on Thursday, where nine start-up companies pitched their products to more than 200 investors and technology enthusiasts hoping their products gain attention for investment. : page all

Laura McCann-Ramsey had the pleasure of being a mentor for several of the small businesses involved in TechLaunch 2013.

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View the Birds of Paradise

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Check out our client Dreams of Bhutan's new packaging!  It was wonderful working with them and we're all very excited about the results!  

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Step#30: What Ya See. What Ya Get.

Your start up is growing. So are you. Yes you have some pains, but overall you love this journey. Marketing is becoming a part of your skill set. Building a brand seems to be the most normal thing. Creating a voice, sharing your vision, producing content: you are a marketing dragon, fierce and fiery. You are the king of the throne and you own the game. Remain humble. Remain true. Align with your allies. Beat off your foes. Marketing is part science, part art, plenty of energy and good will. Your clients, the marketplace and your rabid fans already know: What you see is what you get. Go get them!

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Step#29: The Brand of “Me”; The Brand of “We”

It’s time to start dating. Then you should get engaged. Right after that, probably best to move in - If you really want to shack up and have that special person in your marketing life. Marriage is next. And, well you will probably get married again and again and… The average marketing hire lasts about 18 months. Either they are so hot and in demand and get pulled away, or you tire of them because they can’t prove any ROI. It’s all good. It’s par for the course. But stop being alone. Stop being me and focus on we. Be that loveable catch that some marketing god or goddess wants to be with and let their love for what you do inspire them with your Cupid’s arrow.

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Step#28: Don't Be A Dummy

Yes you! Pick up a book. Read a blog. Subscribe to the trades online and off. Meet consultants, learn what they do. Interview marketing people, find out what they know. Drink from a fountain or a hose. Quickly you will inundated. Hooked. A marketing content junkie. And then you need to execute. It’s too much. No one can do it all and do it well. Time to bring in help. Even those of us who do this for a living, we are overwhelmed. How do we keep up? How do we stay relevant? How do we get good at different channels from instagram to vimeo? From numerous verticals from fashion to football? From b2b to B2C? What do you think? We’ve got to have game. We’ve got to be passionate. We’ve got to love what we do. So do you!

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Step#27:  The Marketing Chorus Line

Ever been to a show and the chorus was off key? Tuned in to Glee and the harmonies were off? Checked out American Idol and the kids couldn’t sing- okay- I’ll give you that one. Marketing is your chorus line. Everything done in marketing needs to synch with sales, finance, operations and product development. When the Rockettes kick up their legs in perfect timing you don’t see that they are all different, they look like a united backdrop of entertainment: classic and somewhat forgettable, but setting the stage for the big act. That’s marketing. In order to synch up those kicks, tune those vocal chords and belt out those tunes you need to: practice, practice, practice. But also set the stage. Do you think all that “production value” happens without a team effort? Wrong. Do you think that prime time content is about the performers on the stage only? Wrong. Behind the scenes are the crew, the folks that pull it together. And guess what, they have lots of tools. From curtains, to lights, props to stages. Your marketing needs to talk to your CRM, needs to talk to your website and analytics. Behind the marketing team is the IT team building the stage.

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Step#26: Video Rules

  Been to an event lately and looked up at another bulleted slide. Then seen someone share a clip from a video or movie? Which got your interest? Seen of late the emails that have video’s, the fashion brands have really great ones. They get it. Video is the hottest platform. More interest, more interaction, more viral. So how do you create videos? You have a tight budget, no experience making them and not sure where to start. Be reassured, production value may matter to some, but to most it’s not the key concern. Time..in 3 minutes max tell me a story. That’s the focus you should have. With the tools at your disposal today from cameras on your phone, to the one on your computer, and editing software readily available you can try to become the next James Cameron. Or, find a film student, local firm or

Someone in your company with some training and get to work. Experiment. Try things. Test things. Youtube and Vimeo are loded with content. Find things you like, take the best from the best and repurpose in your own style. Have fun. Who knows, you may just have a knack for this and you never knew.

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Step# 25: To Campaign or Not to Campaign That is the Question

Have a great idea for a marketing campaign. Think it will get you tons of fans and generate leads. Should you go for it? Be smart and do your homework. Find other campaigns, well done ones, failed ones and follow the crumbs back to their inception and see what worked and didn’t. Put some research together and inform yourself. Pick the right time, a strategic time. One that fits into your ability to execute and one that matches the buying cycles in your market. Make sure you are not a copycat. Good ideas make their rounds, so be original and be thoughtful. Prizes, discounts and free stuff are motivators to some. Knowledge, recognition and attention more important to others. Remember. Cross channel platforms are key. Your campaign needs to be everywhere your prospects and clients are and not all channels are created equal.

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Step 24# No One Likes Us

So you just put up your facebook page and the likes are trickling in. You can’t seem to hit the mark. You thought this would be easy.

Let’s face it, no one is eager to make you more popular unless you share the love! This is not a popularity contest, this is a triathlon. Just when you finish the run, it’s time to jump into the water. Think your done now.. time for bike race. Growing your pages requires a commitment to the race, and it’s long and requires stamina. Someone needs to devote the time to getting in shape. You have to train at all the events and learn to work as a team and flow with your competitors. Cross pollinate, facebook then twitter. Twitter then facebook. Buy likes? Sure, if it makes you happy and numbers matter more then authentic followers. It’s like wearing those tight cycling shorts, or that little speedo, if you don’t have the body, maybe not? Be in it for the long run. Spend the time, or have someone do it for you. Getting your business found and liked requires your devotion first. Devoted fans come later.

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Step#23: Be "You"!

You are not in this game for the money. You want respect, influence, dignity and influence. So why not share your voice, your loudest, strongest voice. The one that gets to the heart of who you are.  If you are the guy with 10 kids with a spiritual soul, share that. If you are the gal who thinks your products change the world, tell that story. If you have the edgiest taste level and love design, incorporate that. Share yourself, what you are about in your most authentic voice. It will shine through the clutter and you will be found, appreciated and adored.

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Step#22: Fail to Adapt

You have to be honest with yourself. You think Marketing and Social Media might not be your “thing”! It's a safe bet, one you would bet your life on. Don’t be ashamed. Live up to your strengths. Perhaps your organization is great at direct sales, you know how to manage your funnel, convert leads and are only interested with real prospects with meat on their bones. This Marketing and Social stuff is too fluffy! After all you know where to go to hone in on new markets, find fresh meat and certainly you know how to close deals. But did you know you seem like a cave man or woman? Why use a club when there are new tools, agile ones that help you harvest and build, grow and nurture, focus and evolve. Of course you don’t want to hear from those pesky consultants trying to sell you a new line item on your budget in marketing. Your marketing team isn’t sure they should bring it up again when they have been shot down before. Or maybe your industry is just behind the times and are not ready to lead the pack? Remember, failing to adapt will catch up to you like a raptor in Jurassic Park. Get ready to run. You can’t hide.

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Step#21: Stay for the Wrong Reasons

So you have followers, you have likes and about 20 people are following your blog and you went to high school with half of them. Should you stay or should you go? Social Media seemed like a great idea. You wanted to be an evangelist and you had something to stay. But either you lost interest, your content was not that interesting or your raving fans are just not interested. How do you cut your losses?

When a client, prospect or future recruit goes to your social media platforms and sees you are not keeping up, it’s pretty much like walking into a retail store and seeing shelves that are half empty, old merchandise and dustballs on the floor. It sends the wrong message.

Close shop and delete your accounts, put the social media links on your sight into stealth mode until you renovate and recommit. Or do the overnight clean up. But don’t send the wrong message.

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Step#20: You Are A Network

Every time you leave the house and go to a meeting, an event, a conference and reach your hand into your pocket to hand out your card and take someone else’s your network multiplies. Exponentially.

With tools like LinkedIn, Google+, facebook, TBLR, Pinterest or instagram, you are one degree of separation from anyone and everyone. There is so much content out there, so many companies and individuals generating it and so many reasons to connect. Being networked comes with “protocols”. Don’t spam, don’t waste my time, don’t steal or leverage. Use your best voice, always, the one your mom and dad told you to use inside. Yes, that one. Be generous with connecting, saying yes to new contacts, you never know where they will lead. Be pro-active and do the work of coming home after two weeks on the road and attack your pile of business cards with verve and reach out, drop kind words, follow up. We are energy and when we emanate our passion for who we are in the world, the world finds us and brings us good stuff. But remember don’t be a taker, share your toys like mom and dad taught you too.

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Step#19: I am Woman/Man - Hear Me Roar…I Mean Tweet

To Tweet or not to Tweet?  That is the question. It’s a big question because unless you are working hard at this or are someone everyone wants to follow it may not be such a great idea to even get on the twitter bandwagon. First thing, do you have a phone you can Tweet from on you at all times? If not, then are you at your computer all day? Do you really have time to follow and feed and update and track and know what’s going on all the time?  Small interruptions add up when you have them all day. Can you be disciplined about your Tweeting, actually do it, and do it when it makes sense in your work day? Trying to delegate your Tweeting to a phantom Tweeter or opening multiple twitter accounts to create a rave?   Go ahead but you better be sure it’s really adding to the bottom line. Bottom line is put the page up, make sure you use it and keep it active. If not it’s probably just one more thing to do that does not seem to have the best ROI.