Member You - Business

Visual Branding Keys To Make Your Business Memorable
Have you ever asked yourself why a competitor's business gets more attention than yours? The answer just may have to do with the elements that go into how memorable the business is. And that has to do with branding.But exactly what is branding, anyway? Think of branding as predefining what a company is all about in the minds of its clients. Good branding differentiates your products and services in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential customers.Let's say you are getting ready to run errands on a busy Saturday morning, thinking about the groceries that need to be bought, the dry cleaning that needs to be picked up, and the packag

igners. "For us, the essence of an effective partnership is understanding that the designer's job is to provide graphic interpretations of OUR thinking. We define the concepts we want to convey, how the new design links with existing design elements, etc.," comments Julia Graham Lear, director of the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools. "If we don't take time to do so, the final product will reflect the designer's 'take' on the pro

What is Security?
I have found that Security is defined in many ways, and often misunderstood. Most will agree that Security is about the protection of people and assets. Many will see Security as primarily a proactive discipline dedicated to the effective prevention of losses, threats and other compromises; with a response component to properly react to and mitigate the short and long-term harm of actual loss incidents.Furthermore, Security is often considered that which:- Provides a reasonably safe place to those who enter and use the facilities, including customers, employees, vendors, students, patients, visitors, tenants, etc.- Reasonably minimizes risks

I recently spoke with three nonprofit communicator colleagues and four graphic designers who outlined this three-fold path to a process that'll ensure high-impact design for your nonprofit. Before you even get to the design process itself, remember to follow these five pre-design steps to effective graphic design, from finding the right designers to crafting a creative brief.

Here's what your colleagues advise:

Be clear, comprehensive and realistic

Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Director of Communications Kitty McCullough swears by this maxim. She advises nonprofit communicators to "sketch out as much as you can at the beginning (back to the creative brief) and ask for preliminary sketches so your designer doesn't spend time working up something far from what you want."

Mark Dessauer, communications officer at Active Living By Design, solicits three to five design concepts from his graphic designers. "And I ask for completely distinct takes on the project, not variations on a single theme," says Mark. "This lets me expand the discussion to go beyond my pre-conceived ideas, and pushes my designers to be their most creative."

Editorial Comment: Great idea Mark, but you'll pay for it. Advice - specify how many design concepts you want in the creative brief to avoid surprises.

Jack Sherin, former agency creative exec and now freelance designer to a range of nonprofit clients, suggests that you be "entirely confident in all details of your design needs and process, before getting started." BTW, Jack presents a single design concept if it seems right on target. Practices are indeed designer- specific.

Most importantly, think through your concepts and goals before saying a word to your graphic designers. "For us, the essence of an effective partnership is understanding that the designer's job is to provide graphic interpretations of OUR thinking. We define the concepts we want to convey, how the new design links with existing design elements, etc.," comments Julia Graham Lear, director of the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools. "If we don't take time to do so, the final product will reflect the designer's 'take' on the proj

Franchisor Royalty Collection, Late Pays and Interest Charges
If you are a franchisor you will soon find how incredibly dishonest some humans are, as they attempt to hide, conceal or not pay their royalties as agreed. Honest men with integrity are so hard to find in this; gimme world. Indeed the most important part of any franchise system, especially a rocket ship fast moving entrepreneurial type franchise company is to stay up on cash flow, as there is never enough to do all you want to do. And you cannot stop growing once the rocket ship takes off.Like all franchisors our company was challenged by collecting royalties and getting paid on time, so I decided to implement late payment charges on past due accounts in ord

comprehensive and realistic

Editorial Comment: Great idea Mark, but you'll pay for it. Advice - specify how many design concepts you want in the creative brief to avoid surprises.

Strategic Tips For Effective Testimonials According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Testimonials can be very powerful, especially when they are strategically sought from well respected and satisfied clients. Testimonials are much more powerful than advertisements since they are basically unpaid third party endorsements of your company or organization. There are three major reasons why your business should seek and use testimonials. + to build strong bonds of trust + to improve the credibility of your company + to demonstrate your success There are 2 types of testimonials, the solicited and the unsolicited. The unsolicited testimonials come to you without any effort on your part. The client takes the initiative and c

olicits three to five design concepts from his graphic designers. "And I ask for completely distinct takes on the project, not variations on a single theme," says Mark. "This lets me expand the discussion to go beyond my pre-conceived ideas, and pushes my designers to be their most creative."

Editorial Comment: Great idea Mark, but you'll pay for it. Advice - specify how many design concepts you want in the creative brief to avoid surprises.

There Are A Lot of Hats in the Small Business and They All Fit Your Head
What many people think of a small business, they have these visions of an independent entrepreneur who is crafting a finely made product, happily working away doing something fulfilling with their life. REALITY CHECK!Operating a small business takes a certain level of discipline and understanding. This is because it small business is like a child in that your decisions can either help it grow and blossom or destroy it. Let's consider just a few of the positions in a small business that need filled usually by the owner.1. Building maintenance coordinator. If you rent or lease space, the task of scheduling maintenance and repairers not only for t

prises.

23 Things to Know Before Attending or Having a Display at Another Tradeshow
Here are some simple tradeshow do's and don'ts that you may or may not know, but you might want to review them every time to decide to attend or become a vendor at one. I've compiled these from years of doing different tradeshows, biz expos, kid's expos, health fairs, community festivals and more while working at various jobs and with my own marketing business as well.Learn how to work the room OR be the vendor everyone wants to stop at with my 23 tradeshow techniques!Here are the 14 Things Every Vendor Should Know:1. Bring your friendliest employees or friends to work the booth with you, at least one other person so you're not managing it by

Designer Sybil Rogers swears by the creative brief, which "enables us designers to create designs that are visually relevant and strategically on target."

Here are my guidelines for creating a creative brief that works.

Build a solid, candid, ongoing relationship with your graphic designers

Nothing is more important than building and maintaining these relationships, even when no design project is pending. Build those partnerships and keep them going, so that your designers keep you, and your organization's design profile, top of mind.

Lenore Neier, VP of Marketing and Communications at the American Liver Foundation(ALF), makes sure she develops and maintains close working relationship with favorite designers. "It seems to be the only way that works," she says. "They have to get to know your organization intimately to give you the right design product."

Lenore speaks with ALF's graphic and web designers on an ongoing basis. "That way they stay current with our focus and news, and are ready to jump in when we need them," she says.

Don't forget that strong relationships are built on honesty - diplomatic honesty that is. Mark Dessauer recommends that you be "completely honest about how you feel about the work, especially if a designer is a friend (which frequently happens, even if that isn't the case at the beginning). If you aren't happy, you'll be saddled with a design product that doesn't meet your expectations or needs. The results will suffer, and your relationship will too," he advises.

Jack Sherin suggests that you take it one step further to educate your designers on your nonprofit's internal approval process, so they understand what it'll take to build

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Having the correct attitude may almost seem like a trivial thing among all of the daily tasks that need to be accomplished with running any sort of business. Although, having the correct attitude will determine which direction your business will continue to grow, and ultimately the success of your business.

As your cleaning business grows, one of the first things you will have to do is hire employees. Of course, this means that you must decide on how much you are going to pay before you start interviewing and hiring new cleaning staff.

There are many easy ways to create effective marketing programs. The secret is to know where to look.

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