Make the Most of Your Work Hours

You know how it is; it’s 5 o’clock and the pile on your desk is still huge. Your unchecked emails are a mile long and that important client project that you were supposed to get to has still not been taken care of. So what do you do?
Pack it up and work on it at home?
Come in a couple of hours early tomorrow?
Or just ignore it?
We’ve all been there, and we all hate the doom and gloom feeling of the never ending To Do pile.
So, what can you do about it? I‘ve made time management a personal cause of mine and one that I tackle every single day. I have had to come up with a lot of tricks to be able to accomplish my business and personal goals. Today I would like to share with you three of my daily must do tricks. They might seem too easy to be helpful, but trust me they are! I use these tricks in my business and personal life as well.

1. Set the mood. I learned this one in college. When I was a freshman my father gave me a couple of CDs that are designed to help with productivity or concentration. I would put the CD on while I studied and found the hours would go by without my thoughts wandering. I took them with me to the office and play them when I am having trouble concentrating. I swear by them. One of my favorites is The Archangelos Chamber Ensemble Music for Concentration 
2. Make a schedule At the end of the day, I take a look at my workload and guess how much work I will have to do and map it out. This helps me stay on track, with the task at hand and if I find myself dragging my feet on a task I remind myself that I have a schedule to stick to and no time to waste. Here’s an example of my schedule (I work 4 ten hour days... hence the long hours but it works great for me!)

7:00-8:00 Check emails, LinkedIn and voicemail
8:00-9:30 Paperwork
9:30-11 Call Back Customers
11:00-11:45 Sales Training
11:45-12:00 Check Emails
12:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30-3:10 Work on Current Mailing Date
3:10-3:30 - Check Email
3:30-5:00 Client Appointment

This would be just example and on most days something always comes up, but I find I stay more focused and on-task knowing that my day is all planned out.

3. Check Email on A Schedule This is my newest trick and I LOVE IT. I hate having emails in my inbox so I am always checking my mail (For example I will be making a phone call and the phone will be ringing so I will check my email while I wait, or someone will put me on hold so I will check my email...you see where I am going with this) I have found that checking my emails on a schedule has helped me stick to my schedule which then makes me more productive.

I hope that these easy tricks help you make more time. Please share with me your time saving tricks! I look forward to hearing from you!

Logo-a-Go-Go Part 2

Last week, I shared some things to keep in mind when you're working on designing your logo. It doesn't need to be something fancy, but you do want to be thoughtful in making decisions when you're coming up with something to represent your company.

This week, I'm going to share a simplified version of the process I go through when I'm making a logo for client; in this case, I've invented a company called "Miller and Sons Painting"

I'm working in Adobe Illustrator, but you can use whatever tools you have; Microsoft Publisher, Photoshop Elements, MS Paint... there are loads of consumer-level programs out there that will allow you to create your logo. The main thing is you want to be able to save your file as an image file format; .EPS, .TIF, .PDF, and .JPG are all good ways to go.One request though! Please don't use Excel! It's great for numbers, not so great for logo design! :)

So when I'm starting out, I'll just type in the company name to see what I'm working with, and if anything jumps out at me right away.
Here's our company name in my default font, Times Roman:

Doesn't look like much, right? Just the words, typed out. No biggie. This could have been cut out from an email or something!

So I'll start playing around with fonts... my style is simple and clean, so I am really drawn to classic fonts... this one's called Futura Medium:

OK, it's a little less generic, and a little more interesting than the plain Times.

Let's play around a little bit; when I look at this name, what they do is more important than their last name (remember what I said about McDonald's and Nike?) So I'll make it all caps so it stands out a little more:

Hmmm... now we're getting somewhere! I like the look of the mixed upper and lower case... what else can I do?

I put PAINTING on a second line and bolded it, giving us this:

All right! I like this! I want to make it a little more logo and a little less words, so I go to the next step...

I make the Miller & Sons all lower case and remove the spaces between the words. I really like the visual difference the ampersand gives between the lowercase letters, and by removing the space between the letters, it's a more visually substantial block.

Here is where I'm going to start adding some final touches to our design; I want to put a little more emphasis on the PAINTING word, so I put it on a reversed out block and tighten up the space between the lines, scootching the Miller & Sons down so it's just above the top of the block. (And yes, scootch is a technical design word!)

Hmmm... it's OK, but not quite finished enough. For my final step, I ditch the plain box and swap it out for a swash that looks like it was made by a paintbrush. and make it red. I also outlined my text in white so that it really pops against the black. And voila!

Stick it on a business card and voila! You're officially on your way to creating your corporate identity and brand!

Check back soon for a few more handy tips and tricks for designing an effective ad... and as always, please feel free to leave questions here in the comments, on our Facebook page
or you can always tweet us! I'd love to hear from you; we're always here to help!

Logo-a-Go-Go: Designing Your Logo, Part 1

Hi there! This is Lizz, the graphic artist for Golden Mailer. I'll be guest posting this month, sharing a little bit about what I do, and some tips and tricks to really maximize your results when it comes to design of both ads and other things, like your logo and corporate identity. If you have specific questions that you'd like to see addressed in future posts, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll get to it just as soon as I can!

Let's start with one of the most basic elements for branding your company; your logo. You've got a great name, and you've filed your fictitious business name paperwork, so now you just need to create the identity to go with it!
Yes, this is the part where I'm going to suggest you hire a trained designer to work with you on creating your logo, but I also realize that may not be a realistic option for a small business owner who is just starting out, so I want to help point you in the right direction so you can create your own identity! When you're a multimillion dollar corporation, you can hire a pro to update your look instead!
Some questions to ask yourself when you're thinking about your logo.

• What kind of image do you want to portray? Elegant and professional, fun and lighthearted, or hard-working and dependable?
• Is there a color that is generally associated with your industry type? Think green for landscaping, red, white and blue for smog and auto service providers.
• What are some of your competitors using as their logos? You don't want yourself to get easily confused with them, if at all possible!
• Does your company name tell people what it is you do? Are you "Jimbo and Sons, inc." or "Jimbo and Sons Painting"? This will have an impact on some of your options.

 Take a minute and think about some logos you know off the top of your head... how about this one? Or this one? They're both pretty universally recognized, right? And they're logos that graphic design students all over the world learn about in class when talking about iconic logos. Here's the thing. Nike and McDonalds have spent billions, yes that's billions with a b, of dollars making their logos iconic. Unless you have billions of dollars available for a branding campaign, you'll need to make your logo a little more obvious and a little less icon.

One of the best ways to do that is to incorporate your company name directly into the logo, and your logo can really be as simple as your company name in a specific font and a specific color. Like this. If you're looking for a really great font that speaks to you, check out DaFont. It's one of my favorite resources for free typefaces, and you can search by specific style, or just browse until something jumps out at you.

If you want more than just the font-based logo, you can introduce a graphic element; it can be as simple as a circle or as complex as an entire character.

Next week, I'll go more in depth into some design ideas and show you some samples of what I'm talking about.

5 Tips to Create an Ad that Works

Advertising campaigns are the backbone to many companies' marketing strategy. Companies rely on ad campaigns to bring in new customers to build brand awarness. In today's market, everyone is being careful how they are spend their money; that's why it is so important that you put out an effective ad. You want to maximize the impact when you're investing your hard earned cash in producing an ad piece.

1. The 3 Second Rule Grab their attention! Quickly! You want someone reading your ad to stop, give it more time and keep reading. Tell them right away why you and your ad are worth investing that time. Create a want or a need, and then offer a solution. For example, a headline of "Delicious Handcrafted Burgers" and an offer of "FREE BURGER" is going to make that person think about getting a burger, and there's your ad, with a discount, to make it even better for them!
2. Picture Perfect You know that a picture is worth a thousand words... this is especially true when you're looking at advertising. You can easily tell your readers the who, what and hows of you business by choosing a great photo. A blurry, grainy cell phone shot is not going to have the same impact as a well-lit, well composed photo. There are lots of very affordable stock photo options online, if you don't want to invest in hiring a professional to do a shoot.
3. Show Me the Savings Having a good offer on your ad will make a world of difference on your ROI. A strong offer = more new customers. You need to make it worth their while to give your their time and money. This also applies to restrictions; making something only available during certain hours or days may be eliminating lots of potential customers from the pool, if your times don't work for them.
4. Keep it Simple You don't want your reader to have to think too much, by keeping it simple they will have to call or come in to get more information. You don't need to give them every little bit of information on your ad; if you answer all of their questions before they have a chance to call and ask them, then you don't even have the opportunity to interact with them and close the sale. The same goes for your offer disclaimers. A dozen lines of miniscule type can turn people off; they may assume there's a "catch" and will keep going, since it's too much effort to read and interpret everything that's printed there.
5. Who, What, Where, When Last but not least, always include your contact information. You want to make sure that your reader knows exactly who you are and how they can find you. We recommend putting the phone number, address and website all together, as a single entity; that way, it does not turn into a "Where's Waldo" style search for how to find you!

Taking a Quality Photo

The time has arrived, you have spent long hours working long and hard over a job that you are really proud of or you spent hours thinking about the best decoration for your new restaurant or salon and know you want to take a great photo to show the world in your next advertisement. But why doesn't it look like those photos in the magazines that you see?

1. Choose the right camera If you are taking photos of your jobs on a regular basis for your portfolio, you may find it is worth spending a little bit of money on a base model DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex), but it isn't necessary... you can still get great photos even if you "just" have a point and shoot. Lighting, focus and composition are the things that will really make the difference in getting a quality image.
2. Lighting High noon is not your friend! Early morning hours or early evening are much better. The time just around sunset is what photographers call "The Golden Hour," it's a lovely flattering light for people (but might cause color casts as well, so keep that in mind!) Good light will give your photo more depth and dimension. Keep an eye out for shadows that are cast on the photo; if you're a house painter, make sure you can clearly see details in the house, and take a step (or ten!) back to ensure you capture the entire house in the photo! You don't want to accidentally cut off a roof's eave, or where the house meets the ground.
3. Clean up the area Make sure that all miscellaneous debris is cleared from the site. I once saw a great photo but they forgot to pick up the hose, that one little thing can really bring an entire image down.
4. Shoot Extra Photos Take Lots of photos from lots of different angles, and don't be afraid to start far away from a subject and slowly move in closer. You never know what you might find!

Here are three photos of the same object, taken with three different cameras; a cell phone, a point and shoot with flash and a DSLR using natural light. The natural light photo much better portrays what the product actually looks like, and will help you build trust with a prospective customer, by properly representing your product.

Making Your Business Unique

We're happy to bring this article to you, written by Tom Egelhoff

If you took high school physics you probably learned that two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time. Well, the same is true in business marketing. No two companies can occupy the same perception in the customers mind at the same time. We're not talking about a physical presence, but an image that comes into the customers mind when they think of your business.
If I were to ask 10 different customers where to find the lowest price , or highest quality or most selection for women's clothing I would get 10 different answers for each niche. Each customer might have a different perception of what low price or highest quality is. But each customer will usually only have one answer per niche.
Here are some back niches a business can occupy. Is your business among them?

• Low price/low quality - If you have the lowest prices, you can talk quality all you want but, you are going to have an uphill climb to convince the customer. We are suspicious of low prices. Does the phrase, "What's the catch." ring a bell. There is nothing wrong with having competitive prices for comparable products. Most businesses that profess to consistently have the lowest prices simply match competitors prices. Many name brand products will not allow a company to sell their products below a certain price. They don't want to be perceived as cheap.
  
• Top of the Line, Highest Price/Best Quality - Rolls Royce, Rolex. Top of the line products not only have a perception of high quality but can also be prestigious. Also keep in mind high price can carry the perception that its overpriced. Does, "You pay more for the name.", ring a bell? It's much easier to justify a higher price by pointing out the quality than trying to justify the lower price.
  
• Large Selection - Go to any big name department store, JC Pennys, Nordstroms, and compare the size of the women's clothing department to the men's clothing department. The women's section is always three to four times larger than the men's. Why? Women demand selection. It's fashion suicide for a woman to be caught at a social function wearing the same outfit as someone else. Men really don't care if someone else has the same tie. Do your customers demand selection? If so, how does your selection compare to your competition? Keep in mind selection doesn't always mean inventory. One flower shop may carry exotic flowers while another shop doesn't. The shop with the exotics has a larger selection with one flower than the shop that has none.
  
• Service - Ask any major retail chain who has the best customer service and chances are they will say Nordstrom's. They are the team to beat in retail customer service. In small towns, family and small business can usually offer better individual customer service than national chains.
  
• Friendly - Small businesses usually excel in this area. Large businesses have more restrictions and rules than small businesses. Small businesses can get to know their customers by name. Workers in small businesses have more of a sense of ownership in their job then large faceless corporations.
  
• Convenient - We hate to go out of the way for things. We pick things up on the way home from work. We shop, eat, buy gas where it's easiest. We seldom go out of our way to go to a specific business if another is more convenient.

So, which of the six does your business coincide with? I know what you're thinking, "We do all of the above." You can't occupy all the positions at the same time. Only one position will be dominant in the minds of the customers.

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You don't have a choice

Unless you are a brand new business, your customers already have a perception of your business. It may be right or wrong but they have it.
The point is, if you don't do anything your customers will pigeon-hole you along with your competition. You don't have a choice. They may not do it the way you want, but they will do it. Doesn't it make more sense to find the strongest niche and promote it and establish your uniqueness with your customers?

Used With Permission ©1998 Eagle Marketing PO Box 271 Bozeman, MT 59771-0271
http://www.smalltownmarketing.com - 406-585-0219 • email:tommail@smalltownmarketing.com

Marketing for Little to No Money

I truly believe that a successful business must advertise in a least 3 different types of media. That does not mean that you need to spend a lot of money to do so, you just need to advertise intelligently and creatively!

1. Create a referral network Do you have people in your network that do something similar to you but are not in competition to take away your customers? For example a great network would be a hair dresser, tanning salon and manicurist; or how about a roofer, window contractor and painter?. These examples of referral teams allow for the group to easily refer each other's services in a natural conversation without seeming pushy.
2. Email marketing Set up an email capturing widget on your website using one of the many services out there such as Constant Contact or iContact. For a small monthly fee, these services will help you market to your targeted audience; people who you KNOW are interested in what you have to say and are interested in hearing from you.
3. Be helpful Put yourself into the role of resident expert, or trusted advisor. Offer to be a speaker, write an article or do a demonstration and share your knowledge and don’t hold back. You will benefit from the name recognition.

These are only a few ideas; I encourage everyone to go online and find other ideas that fit your specific business. The more things you do, the better your business with be for it!