mirage design

With the wealth of different website options out there, choosing the right site for your needs can be an intimidating experience. It's important that your site brings you a return on your investment through increased sales, but what are the things a professional designer will do to ensure your success?

1. Creating a professional, trustworthy image.
Because websites can be such an anonymous experience, creating trust can be a challenge. By projecting a completely professional image, you give the customer the confidence that you're not a fly-by-night company that's going to disappear with their money. Nothing screams unprofessional like multi-coloured text, bad spelling, broken links, clearly out-of-date content and email addresses like imsosexy@hotmail.com.

2. Building the brand
Your website is a direct reflection of your company and it's products and should always be designed around your company livery. This creates a seamless experience in your marketing and helps to build brand recognition. Whether it's all about your company or all about one of your brands or products, the site should be tailored to the target market you are aiming at and represent your business accurately.

3. Search engine friendly
Your website will be a white elephant gobbling money if no-one can find you. Good design will be sure to incorporate the elements that are search-engine friendly. Sites with frames or built entirely with Flash are not search-engine friendly and whilst they might look good, they pay the price in search engine rankings. However good design will only incorporate some of the elements of "organic" optimisation. If you're serious about creating a presence on the web, you need to look at professional optimisation services, for both organic and pay-per-click optimisation.

4. Generate customer interest and promote sales
Well this one just goes without saying really. As in any good marketing you need to show the customer how you are going to solve their problem. Your site should have concise, informative copy and a logical sales progression, including a call to action. Clear navigation means your customers find what they're looking for with a minimum of time and frustration.

5. Talk to your target market
The internet is perfect for niche marketing and your website should take advantage of this with a design that is tailored to your target market. There's little point in having a frilly pink site because you think it's pretty if your customers are predominantly young men who are into car racing! You are unique, you do have a point of difference...use it!

So ask yourself if your site is achieving these aims. If not, maybe it's time to talk to a professional designer and give your business the boost you've been waiting for.

Labels: graphic design, marketing, web design

On Saturday I was lucky enough to attend the launch of the Tech Girls are Chic (not geek) book by Jenine Beekhuyzen and Rebecca Dorries.

mirage design was fortunate enough to be the design studio chosen for this project and it proved to be a challenging and rewarding project.

This is the first major photography role for mirage. I've dabbled before to help out clients here and there but this is the first photography project I've taken on where the photography is a key element of the job and the responsibility was a bit daunting. Feedback so far has been good - fortunately what I lack in photography skills I make up for in Photoshop!

During the course of the project it was decided to have full colour biography pages of each of the authors and in this instance I felt it was appropriate to use vector art as much as possible. In many ways this book became my Illustrator revival, pushing the boundaries of my previous knowledge in the program and forcing me to move outside of my comfort zone.

Overall I'm very happy with the result, particularly the cover and companion image inside, and fortunately for me the client is too!!

To get more information on the book or to order your copy go to www.techgirlsarechic.org.

Labels: book design, graphic design, IT

What is it that makes one brochure more effective than another? How do you make sure your investment of time and money isn't unceremoniously dumped in the waste paper bin before it's even read? There's no single guaranteed formula, but if you stick to some of the tips below, you'll be heading in the right direction...

1. Keep it simple
Don't try to cram everything in that you possibly can - too much copy just puts readers off. Better to leave something for them to call you about than to have so much copy they don't read anything at all. For a standard A4 double-sided brochure, expect to use the equivalent of a little over half an A4 page of text set in 12 pt size.

2. Write and design with your target market in mind
Know who your target market is and make sure the design and copy feature the things that are important to them. Avoid too much technical jargon where possible - technical information can always be included on your website, brochures are valuable real estate that should outline the main features and lead the reader to call or visit your site.

3. Be consistent
Reinforce existing branding from other brochures, packaging, website or identity. The more you use it, the more memorable it becomes in people's minds and the more they associate it with your product.

If you have a range of brochures, try to make them look like they belong together but are still different, a "family" of brochures.

4. Make sure the font is legible and appropriate
Try to keep font sizes at a minimum of 10 pt, preferably 12 pt if you are expecting your audience to be in an older age bracket. Additional spacing between the lines (leading) helps in ease of reading as well and remember to add spaces between paragraphs or indent the first line.

Avoid script type fonts for large areas of copy - for print purposes, serif fonts (fonts with small "tails" on the ends of the letters, such as Times New Roman and Garamond) work best as they help to lead the eye along the copy.

5. Break up the page
Vary the font weight and size to break up the page and make it more attractive and inviting to read. Use a larger font for the introduction paragraph to give the reader a clear indication of where to start. Where possible use graphics and images to break the text up.

6. Use good quality images and graphics
Nothing says "backyard job" like pixellated, grainy photos from cheap digital cameras or bad clipart (or too much of it). It's worth investing in a professional photographer to create a series of images that can be reused as part of your branding in all your marketing material. If not, go and buy a series of royalty-free stock images on CD that are appropriate to your industry. Industry bodies themselves often sell this sort of thing so check with them as a first port of call.

7. Don't overdo the colours
Yes, colourful pieces attract the eye, but get it wrong and it looks like a brochure for a kindergarten (which is fine if you are a kindergarten!). Select a palette of two or three complimentary colours with one or two contrasting colours - to be used sparingly. Stick to one or two colours for text and headings.

If in doubt, less is better than more.

8. Include a call to action
Your brochure should inform your reader then invite them to take action. "Call us now for our special offer", "Visit our website to place an order", etc.

9. Include contact information
Sounds basic, but it's amazing how many people forget this one. And always include a phone number as well as website details. People have their personal preferences as to how they like to work and find information so give them some options.

10. Proofread
It's very easy when you are looking at a piece over and over to read what you think is there rather than what is really on the page. Always use a spellchecking tool and where possible get someone else to read through it. If not, read the copy out loud, very slowly, two or three times, pointing at each word as you go.

Remember - it's when you start effectively organizing, packaging and presenting your content that you can take your marketing and business to whole new levels, dramatically increasing both your attention value and your net income.

© mirage design. You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: graphic design, marketing

Sometimes you want to create a particular theme or "feel" to something. Something that triggers an emotional response in the viewer. It can be an intimidating task trying to recreate what you see in your mind's eye, but with a little planning it's not as hard as you might think.

The key is to break things down into individual components.

For example, mirage design was recently asked to create an invitation with a "Midsummer Night's Dream" theme. The client (the local school swimming club) had a very clear idea of what they wanted - champagne in the background with words reflecting the theme of the evening sprinkled over the top with something down the bottom (but no clear idea what). So there were three very clear components required to the image.



At this point I have to confess my ignorance - I've never read A Midsummer Night's Dream (I've not even seen the movie!). So I did a little research on the net to get some idea of the plot and the setting. Once I'd done that, it was much easier to determine what that final component should be.

First the champagne. "Easy," I thought. A bottle of champagne, a large vase, lots of bits of tinfoil, marbles and bicarbonate soda later I had a couple of blurry images that were dark and seemingly useless! (Hey I never said I was a master photographer!)

Second the text. LOVE your thesaurus. It is your best friend and it never lies. It introduces you to words that you never even knew existed! A "Roman" style font was an obvious choice. Text done.

Lastly the feature element. We produced three samples here.

The first was a fairy on a lilly. Nice photo of a lilly that I had lying around (more successful than the champagne anyway) made that part easy. Trying to convince my twelve year old (tomboy) daughter to dress up as a fairy and have her photo taken was another matter. In the end I gave up and worked with an illustration. But the client felt the fairy in the illustration looked a little aggressive (okay so she did have a slightly Amazon look to her).

The second was a series of roman columns from a photo of a ruin. Not bad, but kind of floated on the page and left the whole thing looking a little bit "nothing".

Finally the solution we had been looking for was found right under our noses. There I was sneaking out the front for a moment of quiet at the school ball when I looked up to behold the front of Brisbane Town Hall. "Eureka!" I cried and started furiously snapping pictures. Unfortunately I was cold and shivering...you guessed it - blurry, dark images. But I had a secret weapon!

Photoshop. Now let me stress right now it is much better to start with a good image than to fix a bad one. But, when you have no option, you can create minor miracles with Photoshop and a little knowledge.

First some serious lightening of the champagne image and a pale yellow colour overlay to brighten it up and give it a golden shade (hey it was only cheap champagne after all). A little bit of cloning to fill in the gaps and to cover parts where the rising bubbles looked like little scratches and things were starting to look much better.

The image of the Town Hall got much the same treatment, only a lot of cutting and pasting to get rid of the bright red banners in the foreground. Then it was masked off from the night sky and the clock tower removed.

Finally the text. A simple Illustrator file exported into Photoshop.

The final result - a dreamy image that conveys the theme of the invitation (and I don't look like such a bad photographer after all!).

© mirage design. You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: image editing, photography

To quote Sean De'Souza, the marketing InfoGuru from New Zealand, "If content is king, then packaging is emperor."

In marketing these days, we've heard a lot about content being king. Content for an Independent Professional is the sum total of information that you possess that you can leverage to both attract clients and to offer for sale.

This includes content on your web site, case studies of successful projects, background information on you and your business, articles and white papers both published and unpublished, principles, techniques, and strategies, and even the content of workshops, seminars and teleclasses.

If you have an ever-increasing body of relevant content, you have the building blocks for marketing and selling your services. And building blocks is a good metaphor because, if that content is just sitting there in a big pile, it isn't worth very much.

It's when you start effectively organizing, packaging and presenting your content that you can take your marketing and business to whole new levels, dramatically increasing both your attention value and your net income.

At the simplest level this may be starting with the raw material of information that goes on your web site. Unformatted, it's just a mass of black text on a computer screen. It's hard to read and will actually push people away.

If you repackage that text and use an attractive, readable font, make smaller paragraphs with spaces between them, highlight important concepts in bold text, include subheads for different sections, add some color here and there, and include graphics or illustrations, you pull the reader in.

Attention, interest, involvement and response all go up when you start paying serious attention to packaging.

Since design and the overall look and feel of your marketing materials is perceived and processed in the prospect's mind before the content is read, packaging truly becomes emperor.

If you only focus on this one aspect of packaging, you will dramatically increase the impact of your marketing. But you can take packaging to levels that can transform your entire business.

It's a matter of realizing that those building blocks of content can be built into a one-story ranch home or a sprawling three story mansion worth a fortune.It's all in how you package it.

Let me give you one example.

You have the information and the expertise to help companies improve their leadership ability. Your main service is to provide consulting services to help your clients learn and implement these ideas. Your content, your knowledge is certainly important, but the way it is packaged may be very limited.

When you think of packaging as emperor, you may start to explore the many other ways you could package that same content.

1. Create an article or white paper on "Leadership Practices of Great Companies" as a giveaway to potential clients. Great introduction for new prospects.

2. Develop a talk or keynote presentation on the "Eight Deadly Mistakes of Leadership" for business groups. Builds visibility and credibility.

3. Put together an in-depth workshop on "Leadership Practices for High Achievers" to offer in conjunction with your consulting. Increases the size of every project.

4. Assemble a one-year program on "Leadership and Profitability" exclusively for CEOs from different companies. Then sell the program to the executive teams of each of those companies.

5. Write a virtual program on "Leadership in Troubled Times" that is delivered via web and online audio for companies going through transition. Creates passive income which can be offered to an unlimited number of participants.

OK, that took me about five minutes. What could you do if you took an hour or two to explore and brainstorm packaging opportunities for the content you already have?

I discovered a long time ago that clients were only going to buy the packages that I took the time and effort to put together. They weren't going to make them up for me.

And incidentally, creating, marketing and selling these packages brought me income far surpassing any standard consulting I offered, while freeing up my time to come up with even more valuable packages. And in many cases they were actually a lot easier to market and sell than consulting! It's time to give the power to the Emperor of Packaging and see where it takes your business.

Marketing Flashes on "Packaging Is Emperor"
Packaging tips that increase business.

Always offer more than one option and price for each package. As Alan Weiss says, instead of giving a choice between yes and no, give a choice between yes and yes.

Give a name or title to each of your packages as I've done in the the article above. This branding creates an impression of more value and substance. It also makes them more memorable.

Don't underestimate the power of selling small, inexpensive packages. A teleseminar that sells for $25 will sell a whole lot more units than a workshop that sells for $500 (with a whole lot less effort).

Conversely, don't assume your prospects won't buy expensive, more in-depth programs. A complete solution that is high priced can be perceived as more affordable than a partial solution at a lower price.

Packages can evolve into the next package and the next. An article turns into a presentation which becomes a paid teleclass which morphs into a workshop. This continuity builds momentum.

All the best,

Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More Clients

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert's web site at www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses.

Labels: graphic design, marketing, web design

Are you a web designer? If you're not, that is the NUMBER ONE reason why leaving your website to a designer is a GOOD idea. But why? Your business card and website are your MOST important promotional tools --put some time and money into them. It's the repeat visit (or pickup of the card) that gets the sale. Ok... so you've heard that story. But who knows your business like you do? How can you possibly trust anyone else to present YOU the way you think YOU can?

This is the next GOOD REASON to hire a designer. A good designer will have some marketing background and work with you to create visuals and copy to represent and sell YOU. Before anything happens, a designer should ask you questions (some that you may never have considered) about your business, your market, your current activities... so they can get a feel for what you're about.

Now... are you seeing the wisdom in hiring a professional. After all... do you tell your potential clients that you are the professional they need? Of course you do. Why would a conference planner do all the speaking himself? Why would a CEO think she could train her entire staff in the latest computer software? Why would a lawyer type his own transcripts? They simply wouldn't.

So why would you build your own website? You have better things to do...

Is your business important to you? Do you want it to expand? You started because you were good at something... or you had knowledge that people wanted you to share. If it wasn't webdesign, that's ANOTHER reason to leave your website to a designer.

You need to focus on your business... on attracting clients, delivering products and services, expanding your reputation. Can you do that while you're struggling with html codes that just don't make sense? NO.

A designer won't tell you how to run your business, they won't give you a topic for a new workshop... they'll build your website (and if you're lucky, your other promotional materials) so that it complements the work you're doing and INCREASES the results of your efforts.

A good designer doesn't necessarily have to cost you an arm and a leg, but you generally get what you pay for. Having a clear idea of what you want you can cut down design time significantly. Find a designer who works on a project fee basis - and usually you'll get more than you pay for. They'll work with you to clarify the purpose and function of your site, and bring you ideas for look and feel that will already have your preferences AND your market taken into account.

What's a ballpark for a good BASIC, custom designed site that will serve you well? $800 - 2000 US, depending on number of pages, interactivity and custom graphic work. Add realtime ecommerce and backend databases, etc, and plan on a minimum of $5000. Some designers have cheaper prebuilt templates -if you're on a tight budget that can be a good way to beginÉ but PLAN to spend more later.

Some things to consider when thinking about your website:

- it's not going to happen overnight. And if it does... don't say we didn't warn you.

- good design - like fine wine - takes time.

- good design is evolutionary too... find a designer you like, because you should be together for a while. You MUST keep your site up to date and fresh.

Does that get the point across?? Webdesign is not quick. You may think that throwing together a FrontPageª template site in a couple hours will do the trick, but it won't.

Even if you get a site you LOVE in a few hours... it's no good if people don't know about it...and we'll get to that NEXT TIME.(see Promoting your Site)

Things to look for when hiring a designer:

- project fee flexibility

- marketing experience

- good writing skills

- versatility in their portfolio

- a portfolio, period... it doesn't have to be big, or even paid/published work, it just has to be THEIR work.

- referrals

- questions (if they ask good questions, you're on the right track)

- network - if they have others they collaborate with, you'll probably get better results...

- WEB DESIGN EXPERIENCE

- PRINT DESIGN EXPERIENCE

(We emphasize those because they are very different media, and not all designers cross over)

by Kera McHugh, designer
somethingelse web+graphicsÊÊ

Article © 1999-2002 Kera McHugh. Kera is the creator and owner of somethingelse web+graphics in the beautiful Sunshine Coast of Canada. She does everything from website to print to bring her clients in the speaking and entertainment industries integrated creative promotional materials. In her spare moments, she is a featured columnist and mother to an amazing thirteen-year-old.

www.time4somethingelse.com

somethingelse web+graphics
www.time4somethingelse.com,
getitdone@time4somethingelse.com
RR10, 230 Pratt Road, Gibson's, BC V0N 1V3 - 604.886.5919

Labels: marketing, web design

By Terri Cooper

When Terri Cooper first started Networking, she couldn't face a room full of strangers. Often Terri would sit in her car out the front of the venue trying to work up the courage to walk in on her own. Now, Terri Cooper is affectionately known by friends and colleagues as "The Networking Queen".

"Business Networking doesn't come naturally to everyone" says Terri. "Most people need a helping hand to develop these skills and having been there myself - I know what it takes to move past the problem."

Below are Terri's Top 10 Networking Tips to get you out and about and networking like a pro.

1. SMILE!
Nothing makes people feel more welcome than a smile.

A referral generates 80% more results than a cold call.

2. Wear a name badge.
No-one can be expected to remember the names of everyone they meet at a networking event. Often people want to ask you something, but stall because they can't remember your name. Make it easy for them and wear a name badge that prominently displays your name.

3. Always offer a business card
This is people's reminder of you when you're not around. They may not need your products and services when you first meet, but if they have your card they can call you when they do.

Approximately 70% of all jobs are found through Networking.

4. Stand where people are likely to congregate
Position yourself where you wont feel out of place and where others will congregate. Try standing near the trade table or the bar. If it is a sit-down event, spend some time near the coffee and tea table, making time to strike up a conversation with those grabbing a quick cuppa.

5. Ask people about themselves and their business
Encourage people to tell you about themselves. As you both become more relaxed it's easier to open up and talk about common interests and where your respective businesses can help each other.

Most people you meet have around 200 contacts.

6. Ask open ended questions
We've all met someone who just answered "Yes" or "No" to every question we ask. It's like pulling teeth and leaves you feeling like they have no interest in you whatsoever! Avoid asking questions that will elicit "Yes" or "No" responses. "What range of products do you supply?" will get a better response than "Do you sell XYZ?".

7. LISTEN!
Make eye contact with people and actually listen to what they say. Try not to interrupt until they've finished speaking then respond appropriately. Most people love to tell you about themselves and their work so give them the chance - often you'll find information that's useful to you that you didn't even know you needed!

The price your customer paid will be long forgotten, but the quality of the service they received will be remembered forever.

8. Befriend first timers
We've all been there. Have a heart and make them feel welcome - they just may be the best contact you make.

9. Use people's names often
Once you know someone's name, use it often in conversation. This helps you remember them and to put a face to the name in your mind later on. It also makes people feel that you are taking an interest in them personally and are making a genuine connection.

IT'S NOT WHO YOU KNOW, IT'S WHO KNOWS YOU!

10. Remember Networking is about Telling, not Selling
Nobody likes being given the hard sell. If people are interested in your products or services they'll ask you for more information. Better to just tell them about what you do and leave them to decide for themselves if they want to know more. You don't want people avoiding you because you come across as too pushy.

Terri now teaches Business Networking skills on a one to one basis or in a corporate group. For further information on Terri and her networking functions go to www.terricooper.com.au.

Labels: networking

By Sean D'Souza

Santa Claus Inc. is well and profitable, right through recessions, depressions and just about any economic scenario. The reason why his marketing strategies work better than yours, is because he uses solid, dyed-in-the-wool psychology. He knows he doesn't have to use new fangled techniques, when his simple marketing has stood the test of time.

If you don't believe in Santa, you'd better change your mind, because the fat man from the north pole rocks on and you too can do the same if you stick to the basics. Find out if your product or service matches up by reading the article below.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way...
If you go to the heart of Santa's marketing, the one word you come away with is 'consistency'. Generation after generation have been exposed to one brand, one message, and the same powerful imagery. Just like Mercedes own the term 'luxury' and Volvo owns the term 'safety', Santa owns the word 'hope'. Every kid worth his Nintendo, hopes he's got enough points on the goodness scale to justify a mountain of gifts.

Yet, most companies get tired of their own brand. They chop, change and pour thousands (if not millions) of dollars into a bottomless pit of mindless change. Take a look at McDonald's advertising, for instance. McDonald's own the word family outing yet their ads have been straying down the teenager path.

Does it make sense to consistently occupy one niche? You bet it does! Families go out with their kids to McDonalds. These kids sprout into budget-conscious teenagers that hang out at McDonalds. They have kids and grandkids and guess where they all end up. At the big yellow 'M', that's where!

Santa doesn't waver. His customers are kids. Like several marketers, he might have been sorely tempted to enter the gift market. With bad advice, he would have tried to get to teenagers, adults and everyone. Can you see the magic still working? Even the tiniest of niches is huge and niches have a way of expanding by themselves.

At the end of the day, it's the consistency that takes the jingle all the way to the bank. Too many companies lose focus and give you seven reasons why you should buy from them. Santa sticks to one: Be a 'good' kid or you can keep hoping!

You Can Spot Him in the Middle of a Crowded Sky
Do you know anyone who comes to visit on a sleigh in the middle of the night? With reindeer and gifts? The reason why Santa stands out so vividly in our memories is because he's different. The postman does the same thing, but leaves without the flourish.

It's really important to work out how your marketing message differs. Santa's core marketing term is not built solely on consistent branding but also on a very hard-nosed differentiation. Too much communication out there fits in with what's safe. Customers have just one slot in their mind. You have to enter that slot at such an obtuse angle that they remember you for life.

Rose Richards runs Office Doctor. The term that set her apart from all the rest of the administration crowd is the term, Small business pain relief. Can you imagine your reaction when you hear something like that? The human mind is intensely curious and a marketing statement like that is pure bait. You want to know what pain relief she brings and how she goes about it-specially if you're the one in pain. That's only half the story. The construction of the message elevates her from simple number crunching to brain surgery and makes her unique.

If you want differentiation you need look no further than the guiding light of Santa's sleigh-- Rudolph, with his shiny nose. Can you even remember the names of the rest of the eight reindeer?

One very important point, however, is that the marketing message isn't just different, but also customer-oriented. Rose takes the clutter out of administration and Rudolph provides a beacon for clearer navigation.

If you don't have a benefit for the customer, just being different is going to get you nowhere.

Give and You Shall Receive
How many of you are out there networking like crazy? Trying desperately to fill in your steadily depleting bank reserves? You want, want, want! Take a look at Santa's style.

He's into giving first. If you probe deep into your mind, you'll find the people you like best are those who have given you their time, their money or their knowledge. You trust them, and it's very hard to say no when they ask you for a favour in return.

The deepest core of human emotions is fear. Every single product or service, without exception, is sold on the basis of turgid fear. The only known antidote to fear is TRUST. When trusts struts upwards, fear banishes itself to penguin land. The more you pile up the trust, the more you can do business.

Wouldn't Santa be able to sell you just about anything? Would he be able to cross-sell and up-sell product? Santa could knock on your door next summer and you'd be more than happy to have him join your barbecue.

It's up to you to build up the trust one Lego block at a time. Identify your clients and see what you can give them. It could be information, time or even a chocolate covered scrumptious cookie. It's the old 'What's in it for me?' theory. If you can't find something calorie-ridden for their minds or bodies, they won't want to see you.

Play Santa. It works.

He Knows if You've Been Bad or Good...
Heck Santa knows his customers. He even knows when you are sleeping, or awake.

Then, there's you. Look at your biggest customer. What's her name? When is her birthday? Does she like Indian curries or sushi? In curries can she handle hot or medium? What does she think about you? What doesn't she like?

You're guessing for sure. You can't be dead certain because you've been so busy looking at dollar signs that you've missed the plot completely.

The reason why Santa's marketing works is because he intimately knows your individual needs. If you want a drum kit, you get one. If you want a Barbie, you don't ending up sulking with a xylophone.

Santa knows because he's interested in giving. To give, you have to know exactly what the receiver wants or your gift is not worth the packaging it's wrapped in.

Some people worry about invading personal privacy. Hogwash! When was the last time you got upset because a supplier turned up with a big chocolate cake (your favourite) for your birthday? or with rare stamps for your son (because he loves collecting stamps)? Santa's invades our privacy gently and uses it to give, not to take. That's why we don't mind it. The tax department on the other hand, uses our information to take and therein lies the principal difference.

Once a Customer, Always a Customer

Santa Doesn't Lose Customers. Period.
One of the primary reasons why he's able to achieve this amazing feat is because he thinks of his customer's customer. His customer is the kid, who in a few years gets a little wiser about Santa and his customer's customer is the parent who has the amazing power to get their children to be nice not naughty, if only for a short while.

Since the concept works in their favour, they do all the advertising. Without TV, radio or the internet, Santa's message gets a grip on millions of kids around the planet. These kids grow up and the marvel of Santa is handed down through the generations.

While It's OK For Santa, How Would This Work In The Real World? Say, If You Sold Jeans.

Jeans West, a jean retailer, has several of the answers. I needed one pair, but Stephanie (the sales girl) sold me two-bit by hassling me, but by gently reminding me I would get $20 off the second pair. Then, with my purchase, she gave me a gift voucher of $10, for my use or to pass on. They also signed me up for a loyalty program that offered to give me a 10% discount if I purchased over $250 worth of product in the next 6 months.

This Is Effectively What Jeans West Did to Make Me a Permanent Customer.
Step 1: The sales person asked the right questions to find out my need.

Step 2: She up-sold the product giving me good value for money.

Step 3: A gift voucher with a validity date, ensured an additional purchase. Or even better, the chance for me to pass it on to another person thus 'creating a customer' for Jeans West.

Step 4: Tying my fickle consumer head into a loyalty scheme. They wanted me to stay with them forever.

Santa's steps may vary, but in essence he ties you into a solid loyalty program that is near impossible to get off. It's 'customer get customer', rather than 'advertising get customer.' It's cheaper and it works!

In conclusion here are the main points why Santa's customers keeps coming back. These concepts may sound old, even trite, but have been proven time after time to work well. Test them against your company and brand to see where you can learn from the man from the North Pole.

1) Solid branding:
We're not talking lease here. Consistency is the key. This applies everywhere from networking meetings, advertising to any sort of communication that goes out. Keep hammering home the same unique message and put it up front. The weather changes all the time which is why we can't trust it.

If you must change, it's because your old message isn't doing a complete job. I changed our first baseline from 'Recession proof business principles' to 'Reactivating dormant business clients.' The proposition was the same but the second line got 10 times the response.

2) Differentiation:
Santa knows he can be a courier with a difference. You, too, can create your own legend. Nike used Just Do It. Coke threw in the concept, Rum and Coke, indelibly burning the word classic into our consciousness. Sameness is in your mind. No matter how many brands exist on the market, your product has a fingerprint of its own. You just have to dig deep to find out.

3) Build trust by giving first.
Life is all about sowing, then reaping-but sowing comes first. If you don't give first, you will only get limited results. The more you stop thinking of yourself and focus on what the customer needs instead, the more you are trusted. Business is all about trust. If you don't have it, you're yesterday's soup.

4) Know your customer...
Like you know the hair on your head. Data collection and its optimum usage will get you right into their minds and keep you permanently rooted in. Every time they see you, they should think you are Santa coming to town.

5) Reactivate dormant clients
They are all volcanoes. Sitting there with the power to erupt mightily. Figure out who they are and how you can work in tandem with them. Forget your product or service. That's a given-- It has to be good. Find out the 'everything else' factor and you will keep them for life.

Like Santa does...

Have you seen a customer back away at the very last minute? Do you know why that happens? Psychological Tactics help you overcome that frustration by looking inside the brain of your customer Go to www.psychotactics.com today! You won't be disappointed.

Labels: marketing

Do you have something to say? Is there something that your customers should know that makes your products more valuable to them? Ever feel like you're yelling into the wind? Don't lose heart. You're probably doing a bang-up job with what you are saying, maybe you're just not saying it the right way.

The first thing to look at is how we communicate. Most people are surprised to learn that verbal and written language forms only a small part of human communication. We use all our senses when interpreting the information before us - sight, sound smell, taste and touch.

Try turning the sound down on the TV or switching to a foreign language channel for a while. You can still work out what's going on. The body language of the actors, the lighting, the music (if you have the sound up!), the styling of the set - all of these things combined immediately tell you part of the story. The verbal language is just another part of the story. The trick to getting your message across is to make sure all the other parts of your message and how it is delivered supports what you are saying.

Consider the graphic style of your marketing pieces - the choice of typography, the choice of paper and other printing options such as laminating or foil embossing, how your material is bound and presented. All of these aspects should work together to create a cohesive message.

The second thing to do is to ask yourself who you are talking to. Identify your target market and have a good look at what appeals to them. Ask existing clients and customers what the do and don't like about your product. Go through your client list and identify the industries that most use your products and services. Are they private citizens of a particular age group? Are they large businesses or smaller businesses? What's the average annual turnover? How many staff do they have? Graffiti and loud music isn't going to sell your product to retirees so make sure that how you "package" your message is relevant to your target market.


Make sure your message is written in a writing style that is appropriate for your audience and consider employing a professional copywriter to do the job. The graphic style should also be directed at your market. For example you might use bright colours and bold shapes for something to appeal to children or softer colours and script fonts to appeal to an older female audience.

The third thing you need to do is look at how you package your information to make it meaningful.

Many years ago when I first started work at BP's Development office in Melbourne, I was asked to produce some dry, pre-formatted overheads for the financial manager to present in London. They had all the facilities to scan images to use as part of the presentation but didn't know how to use it, so I suggested we hook it all up and add some images to the presentation. The manager readily agreed and we spent a stressful day (and well into the night) setting up the job and testing the limits of the rather outdated colour printer.

After much delay the manager (who was by now definitely over the idea of photos in presentations) walked out the door, presentation in hand, with a few seconds to spare to catch his flight. It was a couple of weeks before he returned and I fully expected to be told we would not include images again. Instead he told me that the London office finally understood why it cost so much to continue exploration in remote areas of Papua New Guinea. Images of forest so dense workers have to cut their way through with a machete at a snail's pace, roads washed away in a single downpour, mountains and cliffs so steep they offered no alternative but the "long way around". In a single presentation he had justified the unusually high cost of the operation. London had been ready to pull the plug on the whole exercise. Instead they increased the budget. A picture paints a thousand words indeed!

Numerical data is another area that can look dry and uninteresting. It is often, however, the most important information so enticing the audience to read it is crucial. Most people are familiar with producing graphs to present data, but there can be more to it than plotting a scale. Colour again plays an important part here, as do graphical elements. Consider a scale with a shorter range (say showing only 50% to 100% rather than 0% to 100% for example) to emphasise the differences and anomalies in the data. Ideally the audience should be able to glance at a graph and understand the significant feature or trend.

Take some time to have a good look at how you are presenting yourself. Examine your existing marketing material and ask yourself the following:

How do you communicate? Is your visual message consistent with what you are saying?
Who are you talking to? Does your audience relate to your visual message and what you are saying?
Is it easy to see your point? Do you use tools such as images, graphics, diagrams or graphs to convey information in addition to your copy?

Once you have stopped saying "Yes" whilst shaking your head to the contrary, you might find there's more people listening out there than you think!

© mirage design. You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: graphic design, marketing

So you're thinking about using a graphic designer to give your business a professional edge, but you're not sure what to expect. Whilst every design firm has slightly different procedures, all work to a logical process that is much the same from one studio to another.

Let's start with the initial consultation. The designer will sit down with you to discuss your requirements. They will ask about your business, the products and services you provide, the industry in which you work, your competitors and your target market. It is helpful if you can bring any of your existing marketing material, competitor's marketing material and samples of marketing material that you like, from any industry or profession. This helps to give the designer a clear idea of the people you are selling to, who you are up against and most importantly, who you are and what is special about the products or services you sell.

The designer will then ask for details of the proposed job, including the nature of the job (logo, business card, brochure, website, etc), the number of colours to be used in the job (single colour, spot colour, process colour), the stock or paper to be used, the number of copies to be produced and any other details relevant to the design and production. If you have not yet decided what form the piece will take, they will discuss your requirements with you and advise you of the most appropriate way to proceed. Be open with the designer about your budget. In this way they can plan to work within those limits.

To do this they may produce less concepts from which to choose, select a less expensive method of production or recommend an alternative printing process or paper stock. They may also discuss alternative options you may not have considered. If you intend to use a printing company unknown to the designer, give the designer the contact details for them now so that they can discuss printing specifications with them and plan to prepare the job around these.

Ask to see samples of the designer's work, preferably something similar to what you intend to produce. Check the quality of the work, and ask them to explain how they came up with the design. What were the specifications of the job? How do they work? What are their payment terms? Keep asking questions until you are satisfied that you have all the information you need.

After the initial consultation, at your request, the designer will provide you with a quote outlining all expected expenses. Be sure to read the fine print of the terms and conditions and if the designer doesn't call you when you within a week of receiving it, call them - and ask lots of questions. If you accept the quote, many designers will request a deposit and a signed agreement to proceed before commencing work on the project.

You will now need to provide the designer with any digital copies of your logo or livery, standards manuals for existing designs, all copy to be used in the piece and any images to be used.

Alternatively, you may request that the designer provide services such as logo recreation (if you only have a hard copy or a low quality digital copy of your logo), copywriting and image sourcing. If you require these services, be sure to tell the designer at your initial consultation so they can quote accordingly.

The first thing the designer will do once you start the project is to research your firm, your competitors and your target market. They will then produce a series of initial concept designs that are appropriate to both you and your target market as a starting point from which to work. From these, one base design will be chosen to be further developed and refined. Your input and feedback is essential to the design process. Consider each design carefully and discuss each concept with the designer in detail.

Once you have chosen your preferred design, the designer will prepare it for final production. Depending on the nature of the project, this may mean few changes from the original concept or significant additional work. For example, if you are producing a manuscript or booklet, the designer may have only given you one or two pages for each sample concept. At this point the design will be applied to the whole document and a complete layout produced. Once the layout and production has been completed, the designer will provide you with a copy for proofing. It is expected that any changes at this point will be minor and these are costed into the quote. Significant changes or changes beyond this point are classed as additional author's corrections and are usually charged by the hour in addition to quoted items.

If the work is purely digital and there are no printing requirements you will now be given digital copies of the job (usually on CD) and an invoice. If the project is to be printed, final colour proofs are now produced and must be carefully checked by the client before signing-off for final printing. Some smaller design studios request a further progress payment to offset the cost of printing.

If the designer is managing the printing process for you, they will now contact the printer for information on submitting the artwork for printing. They will advise the printer of all specifications for the job including colours, stock and quantity and will ensure all relevant pieces of the job are delivered to the printer in a format that is workable to them.

Once the job is complete, the designer will check the print quality and take delivery of the final printed product. This will then be delivered to you or distributed to your choice of location and an invoice issued. Again, smaller design studios may ask for full and final payment before releasing artwork or printed material. Once the process is completed, talk to the designer about how you felt it worked for you. Give them some feedback on their customer service as well as their design and how they might be able to improve it. Tell them what was most important to you about the process and the outcome and talk to them about areas where they may be able to help your business further. Because if a designer has done their work right, you should see a significant increase in sales and an improvement in customer perception. Worthy returns for your investment.

© mirage design. You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: graphic design

With so many companies choosing to produce their marketing and promotional material in-house, it is important to have a full understanding of the information you are working with. This article gives a brief overview of digital images and colour reproduction and their use in print and screen output.

Digital images are composed of one of two file types, reflecting two different technologies - vector files and bitmap files.

Vector Files

Vector files, also known as "object-oriented" files, plot images on a page using a point to point system, much like join-the-dots, using a horizontal and vertical axis to determine coordinates (x and y axis respectively). Points can be plotted in a straight line using two sets of coordinates or along a bezier path using four sets of coordinates. Bezier paths are used to plot an arc through a series of mathematical equations, allowing curved lines as well as straight lines. Vector files also plot simple shapes such as squares and circles.

You can scale a vector graphic up or down and the program recalculates the points and draws a line in between at the highest screen or print resolution. For this reason, vector files are considered to be "resolution independent". The fonts used by computers are also vector files, as you can see when you break the letters apart in a drawing program. Vector files have much smaller file sizes than bitmap images as there is less information required to be stored in the file (vector files plot specific points, bitmaps plot every point).

File formats

Vector file formats are generated by drawing programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand and CorelDRAW and include native file formats for these applications. EPS files (which can also be used to store bitmap files and indeed contain a bitmap preview of the vector file for use in on-screen placement), PICT files, WMF files and CGM files are also vector files, amongst others.


Bitmap Files
Bitmap files are used for images that require a full tonal range, such as photographs. There are four characteristics to bitmap files - resolution, dimensions, bit depth and colour model.

Resolution
Bitmap files are comprised of touching pixels or picture elements (squares of black, white, grey or colour) for every area of the image. The number of pixels in an image is known as the resolution. The resolution of the image directly affects the file size of the image; the higher the resolution, the larger the file sizes.

So how high should your resolution be? Screen images cannot be reproduced by monitors at a resolution higher than 72 dpi (dots per inch), so any resolution higher than that offers you no increase in image quality.

Images for print will vary in their resolution depending on the lpi (lines per inch or the space between printed dots on a page) at which it is to be printed, but as a general rule of thumb most printers use 300 dpi images to get a sharp, clear image.

Bit Depth
Bit depth determines how many tones or colours each pixel can have. If an image is set to a depth of one bit, each pixel can only have two states, black or white, zero or one. A depth of two bits adds two grey tones to the black and white, giving four levels in total. Eight-bit depth gives 256 levels of grey and can produce a smooth graduation from white to black without banding. Colour images use a series of eight bit channels to produce colour values. For example, RGB colour usually has a 24-bit depth (3 channels of 8 bits) and CMYK colour uses 32-bit depth (4 channels of 8 bits).

Colour model
As we have seen in the information on bit depth, each primary colour is produced as a grey-scale channel which, when combined with other primary channels, gives an approximation of full colour. Thus an RGB file contains three channels, a CMYK file has four channels, a greyscale file (which contains a single black channel) has one channel, etc. In addition to this many bitmap file formats allow you to store an alpha channel, a single bit channel that determines transparency in the file. The more channels in your file, the larger the file size will be. With this in mind it is sometimes easier to work with a low resolution RGB file until you are ready to print and then swap it for an identical high resolution CMYK file.

Scaling
If a bitmap image needs to be rescaled there are a number of factors to take into consideration. When the file is to be downscaled to a smaller size, the dots of colour become smaller (using more pixels per dot). This poses no problem with image quality, however the file size may now be unnecessarily high (larger file size than required). When the image is scaled up to a larger size, the dot of colour become larger (using more pixels per dot) and the image takes on a stepped looked known as aliasing or "jaggies". This can be avoided to a certain extent using interpolation of the pixels, where the computer determines what the colour of each pixel should be by sampling the neighbouring pixels and calculates an average. Ultimately, the best way to get a clear image at a larger scale is to rescan the original.

File formats
Bitmap file formats are generated by painting programs such as Adobe PhotoShop and Jasc Paint Shop Pro and include native file formats for these applications. TIFF, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PICT and EPS files are also bitmap files.


Colour Mode

Full colour
All colours the human eye can see are derived from red, blue and green. On-screen colours are created by combining these colours with varying intensity. White occurs when the intensity of each of these colours is equal. Black is an absence of these colours. This is called "additive colour". As the eye only sees in red green and blue, the problem in printing is reflecting these colours. To do this "subtractive colour" is used. Cyan absorbs red light, magenta absorbs green light and yellow absorbs blue light. White is the absence of colour and black is an equal mix of all three colours (though this is not a true black and printers use an additional black ink to add definition). Monitors use an RGB colour space (additive colour) to produce an approximation of full colour at a resolution of 72 dpi. Printers use CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK) inks (subtractive colour) at a resolution of 300 dpi to approximate full colour.

Spot colour
Spot colour is where one or more colours are specified for printing and can include metallic inks and varnishes. Spot colours can be screened and mixed to give the effect of additional colours and where less than four colours are used is cheaper than full colour printing. Colour matching is achieved by specifying ink from a proprietary colour matching system; the most common of these is the Pantone Colour Matching System. Colours are specified as PMS numbers and systems such as these ensure you will get an accurate reproduction of the colour that you want.

Monotones and Duotones
Most people think of black and white when they think of monotone colour, but any colour can be used instead of black. Consider sepia toned images in a dark brown or a dark blue to add extra dimension to the page without increasing costs. Or perhaps a duotone (an image with two colour channels) to add depth to the image. For more information on duotones consult the help files of your painting program (such as PhotoShop).

Web Images
With web images the biggest concerns are accurate colour reproduction and download times. Different platforms and different browsers reproduce colours differently so to be sure that your image is going to be reproduced accurately it is best to stick to the palette of 216 web-safe colours. Most graphics packages supply a palette of web safe colours or you can download one from the internet. The two most common file formats used for images on the Internet are GIF images and JPEG images. GIF images are limited to indexed colours and will step or dither between colours to get the desired colour effect. JPEG images are a better option for continuous tone images such as photographs and can be produced with varying compression to accommodate file sizes. Keep in mind, the more highly compressed the image the lower the image quality.

To get the best possible result from your images, it pays to understand how they work. This article has hopefully given you some insight into the basics of digital images but it really just scratches the surface. For more information on digital images, check out graphics books and websites such as dtg.com, ideabook.com or allgraphicdesign.com.

Resources

An Introduction to Digital Scanning - produced by Agfa-Gevaert Ltd
Concepts in Graphic Design, David A Holzgang and Lesley Strother, MIS Press
http://www.dtg.com
http://www.allgraphicdesign.com
http://www.ideabook.com

© mirage design. You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: graphic design, image editing, photography

In a society that worships consumerism as its king we are constantly bombarded by information. So immersed are we in this information swamp, that we stop seeing it around us, not even noticing the thousands of images that we see on a daily basis. Television, the internet, magazines, newspapers, signage, packaging and billboards all compete for our attention and if they don't get it instantly we just move on to the next one. As someone trying to let people know about your services or products, how do you stand out from the crowd? With so much to choose from, how do you get anyone to stop and look at your ad, read your brochure, click through your website? The answer is to get some good advice from a designer. They have a professional contribution to make to your business with valuable advice that will ultimately save you time and money.

So how does good design really help you? After all, you can always whip something up on the computer yourself (or get your next door neighbour's cousin to do it). Why pay a designer? Because good design is about visual communication. And as with any form of communication, you need to know the language.

A good designer understands how to communicate your message to the people you want to hear. They do it by understanding how people interpret the thousands of images they see each day. How they use associations to file the information in their brains, including how they relate to colour, how they read and what they assume when they look at a graphic or font style.

Case Study

Let's consider a hypothetical example. You're renovating your home and you need a plumber to come and install some fittings. You're thinking of a complete renovation of all wet areas (bathroom, kitchen, laundry and toilet) so you are looking at spending a sizable investment. A builder you know has passed on a couple of business cards of plumbers he recommends...

What does the first card tell you about your potential future contractor? See image to the right.

Certainly it's loud enough to attract our attention, but would you trust this company to build you a sleek, modern bathroom with a price tag of over $20,000? Probably not.

Whilst this card contains all of the vital pieces of information you need, its not very easy on the eye. The script-style font suggests a dance school rather than a solid tradesperson and the contact's name is lost in the company name. The graphic directs the reader's eye right off the page and the colours flare and seem to vibrate against each other, making it difficult to read. It makes the company look cheap and amateurish. Definitely not what you were looking for in trustworthy tradespeople. So you discard it (almost instantly) an go on to the next card. See image below.

This one feels better. You'd feel confident that this company would do a good job and won't go under between now and the bath installation. All the information is essentially the same, so what is it that makes such a difference to our perception of this company? Both cards have been designed to be printed in full colour, so it didn't cost any more to have this one printed. The only difference is the design.

This is by no means a high cost design job - just the very basics. There's been no logo design included and there has been no text treatment. Notice that the most important information is easy to find and easy to read.

The name has some white space (or in this case blue space) around it, making it stand out more and the phone number is a different colour, so its easy to pick out from the address details. The graphic suggests high quality and the colours are comfortable to read in a reassuring blue (with a hint of aquamarine to reinforce the theme).

Tailor-made design

Good design is about conveying a consistent image at a glance. The copy, the graphics, the paper and the colours should all work together to produce a cohesive message. And make sure you have that message right. The most important part of the design should happen before a mouse is moved or a pen put to paper. Design should consider where your business shines, how it is placed in the general industry, who your current clients are and what your competitors are doing. It should speak exclusively to your target market and should be as individual as you are.

You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

© mirage design. By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: graphic design, marketing

Many small businesses struggle to find a balance between producing professional-looking documentation and keeping the budget on track. Graphic designers often charge large fees to produce something that you could probably have done a lot of yourself, at no cost except your time. Printers dictate a minimum amount of copies, when you may only need a few, at a cost that is beyond the project budget.

Many businesses decide that the costs involved are prohibitive and produce the documentation themselves. The result is often a document that is produced in-house that looks like it's been created in Word or Paintbox and does little or nothing to distinguish you from your competitors.

There are, however, ways you can produce professional-looking documentation (such as letterhead, business cards, brochures and reports) in-house and at a minimum cost - you just need to think a bit differently.

This article will give you some ideas on how you can improve your marketing ideas without breaking the budget.

Design
Good design is not just something that makes your document look attractive. A good design should consider your type of business and your potential clients and customers. Stop for a minute and have a think about your business. What makes you different from your competitors? What are you best at? Take a good, hard look at your existing clients and customers. Who are they? What do they like? All of these things should be taken into consideration before you even start.

Have a think about the type of layout you want to use. Would a three-fold A4 brochure or a postcard be better? Split A4 flyers and newsletters into multiple columns rather than a single column page. Select a font to use for headings and one for normal copy and stick to them. Make sure that all your documentation is consistent and looks like it belongs to one "family".

Get a designer to create and set up a template in a program you already have, such as Microsoft Word. Then you have a ready-made document that you can change and reprint whenever you like.

You can even use the same template to produce letterhead, flyers, newsletters and fax headers. Microsoft Word has a huge array of features that many people don't even use, such as style sheets, headers and footers, tables, borders, envelopes and labels (you can even print your return address on the envelope as well).

Take the time to learn how to use some of these features - it will save you a lot of time and can help you create a much more professional look. Alternatively, have a designer produce a pre-printed page that you over-print yourself using a Word template or similar document.

Printing and Output

Printing costs are often the most expensive component of producing marketing material. What type of printing you choose to use will depend on how many copies you need. If you only require a few copies, printing on your desktop printer may be the best option (but keep in mind how much it costs to replace colour cartridges on your printer and how quickly you will go through them). If you need more than a handful but still don't need enough to require an offset print run (usually a minimum of 250 or 500 copies) try using colour photocopying - most photocopying shops can print your document directly from disc (though this usually incurs an additional download fee). But if you require more than 200 copies offset printing is definitely the most cost-effective way to print.

Short Run Printing
Just because you run something out on your desktop printer doesn't mean it has to look boring. Stationary shops such as Officeworks and craft stores supply specialty papers designed for use with laser and inkjet printers.

Use a coloured, transparent or textured paper to give your document a lift and to make it stand out. Print on adhesive paper to create stickers and CD labels. Or use unusual sizes or shapes - perhaps a square brochure that you print on an A4 page and cut out. You can trim them yourself or get your local photocopy shop to do it for you (provided it is a straight-edged cut). If you only have a few you could even cut them into unusual shapes by hand.

Large Run Printing
Even within the realm of offset printing, there are ways to get the best value for your money. You could use single or two-colour printing instead of full-colour. Or pre-print large quantities of a "base" document that you can overprint for multiple purposes. There are also print brokers, who can give you a much better price than many independent printers. Print brokers reduce their costs by buying paper and inks in bulk and printing many jobs at the same time, rather than just yours, but there are a few catches.

First you have to work to their schedule, they may only run off brochures once a week, so you'll have to wait for the next print run rather than going into production straight away. Secondly, you will have a limited selection of paper stocks to choose from, or no choice of paper stock at all, so specialty papers are out of the question.

Digital Output
One way to reduce your printing costs is to not print at all! Most businesses these days have personalised email addresses for their employees, giving you an opportunity to promote your business and market your products without even having to print anything.

E-newsletters are now a familiar form of marketing for many companies and are a good way to keep reminding people of your services, but make sure you give the user the option to unsubscribe and that nothing is sent unsolicited.

Get a designer to produce an html template for you or have them design an html invitation or product brochure that links to your website. Acrobat PDF documents and Word documents are also acceptable file format to be sent as attachments.

Binding and Presentation

Never underestimate the power of first impressions. There are many ways to give your presentation a more "finished" look. Check around stationers and craft shops for specialty or coloured envelopes and presentation folders.

Rather than just handing potential clients and customers a couple of typed pages of your corporate profile, give them a folder that includes your business card and a flyer as well as the profile - a far more memorable product. Have the document wiro bound and a label designed and printed to stick on the front of the folder and voila!

You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

© mirage design. By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: graphic design, marketing

We are proud to announce the release of the mirage design 2007 Christmas Card range and the 2008 Calendar range.

All designs are exclusive to mirage design and can be personalised with your company logo and personal message. All images on the cards and calendars are taken by myself and can be purchased as prints (calendar images only).

New designs will be added over the coming months so there's bound to be something there to please everyone or talk to us about a fully customised design.

Labels: calendars, christmas cards, digital art, photography

The mirage design print store is now open for business.

Click on the link below to view images now available as lustre, matte and glossy prints. Or perhaps you'd prefer a canvas or a mouse mat. Selected prints are also available as postcards, magnets, coasters and printed on cups so there's something for everyone.

Our gallery currently encompasses a range of landscape and still-life photography as well as fantasy photomanipulations. Please feel free to stop by and have a look. Remember to bookmark the page to check back for new works (which are going up all the time).

We'd love to hear what you think...

Visit our store

Here's a brief selection of some of the images you'll find...

Labels: digital art, photography

mirage design is proud to announce that we have recieved an Editor's Choice Award from the International Library of Photography for "Warrick - EH Holden Portrait". The image will be featured in the upcoming book Endless Journeys.

Copies of the image are now available at the mirage design print store (click here to go to the store) or for copies of the Deluxe Hardbound Edition of Endless Journeys, please contact us at prints@miragedesign.com.au.

Labels: photography

Make an impression on your clients this year with personalised Christmas cards featuring your company logo and personal message. Choose from one of our unique designs exclusive to mirage design or talk to us about a fully customised design.

Part of the proceeds from every card goes towards supporting the kids at Camp Quality.

Our Australian Beach Scene cards have been most popular this year but there's plenty to choose from to suit your particular needs. You can view the full selection on our website at www.miragedesign.com.au/christmas_cards.htm.



There have also been several enquiries for cards with no printing inside. As a single run there is not a lot of cost advantage in this but if there are several people wanting the same card I am prepared to look at combining runs to make it more economical for everyone. Please contact me via email at cards@miragedesign.com.au if you would be interested in this.

Labels: christmas cards, photography

I was reading through the website of an inspirational photographer the other day (http://www.herbrich.com) and was a pleasantly surprised to find that he has little creative quirks to his work. He likes his images to have a little secret to them. For instance, on one occasion he added a statue of Donald Duck's brother to an image of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange...and no one noticed!

Programmers have been doing it for years (ask an old Mac owner what Iguana, Iguana, Iguana means!) and they're called Easter Eggs. In the case of software programs, they're usually hidden images or messages, sometimes even games, that can only be accessed when you know the right keys to type in.

I think Easter Eggs are a great idea. They add to the enjoyment of the job for the producer and the client and they can be used as an incentive for the customer as well.

Sometimes they are publicly visible and sometimes they are not...for instance one of the websites I've worked on has an error page called doh.html (there were a few others considered but dismissed as potentially offensive!!). Rarely, if ever, will anyone notice it, but it put a smile on my face and that of my client and gave the job a good feeling. I'm still waiting for someone to comment on that one...

Obviously discretion is advised and there are times and clients with whom it would be inappropriate, but on the whole there's room for a little humour in most places, even if it is just a funny file name.

So don't be shy, tell us about the ways that you can bring a smile to your work...

You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

© mirage design. By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: fun, graphic design, web design

As someone who works predominantly alone, it's easy to find that you've moved into a comfort zone and are now stuck there.

You know the deal...new versions of the software (or products) you use come out and whilst you may have purchased the new version you still mainly use the old tools. "If it ain't broke, why fix it?' you say..."because someone else is already doing it faster/easier than you (and will get chosen for that next job over you)" is the universal answer.

You promised yourself you'd go through that tutorial that came with the package but when you loaded the software you were too impatient to get going and now you just never seem to get around to it.

There are many ways out of this sort of situation. The first and most important thing to recognise that you've fallen behind and are prepared to do something about it.

You can enrol in a course or seminar with an expert and get a big hit of information all in one go with some professional advice to go with it, but if you're a small operator the budget often doesn't extend beyond one or two of these events per year.

You can trawl the internet for all the information you need...heaven knows it's all there...somewhere!! Once you sort the wheat from the chaff and find a couple of useful sites, bookmark them for future reference. Forums are also a good place to ask questions if you can't find the information you're looking for. This works well if you have a clear objective in mind that you need to achieve.

Or you can look at what others in your industry or related industries are doing. Join an industry group...go on, they're not going to bite! Or track down one or two others from your industry and invite them out for coffee. Most likely you'll find people facing exactly the same kinds of problems that you are - some of them may even have found a solution! Too often we let professional pride or jealousy stand in the way of a good learning experience.

Lately I feel like I've been on a huge learning curve with digital manipulation. Doing the IT Screen Goddess Calendar reminded me how much I love manipulation but few clients have the budget for such time consuming practices. As such I've decided to pursue this in a non-commercial format for the time being. Having joined an online art community (deviantart.com) I find I'm learning a huge amount just by watching others and asking questions. "Ooh, I like that, how did they do it?", "Oh, I never thought of doing it that way". Most people are flattered by any enquiry and are happy to answer questions or refer you to sites where you can learn more. Already I feel that there has been a marked improvement in my work. (Shameless self-promotion: http://jane-mirage.deviantart.com). :)

So if you really want to give your business some new life next year, ask yourself what you'll be doing in your downtime on the holidays? Dumbing down or brushing up?

© mirage design. You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: training

What a nice surprise I received in the mail the other day! I had a letter from a company in America telling me one of my images had been selected as a semi-finalist in a world-wide photography competition (I dabble in photography and digital art as a hobby). The image is to be reproduced in a coffee-table style book and the final winner will be chosen later this year.

The letter was a timely reminder of something else I should be doing...

I've been meaning to submit some of my graphic design work for awards for some time but just haven't got around to it. It's something I know small businesses SHOULD do. To be able to display awards or certification helps build confidence with new clients, showing them that your work is esteemed by more than yourself and your grandma.

Industry groups and magazines are often a good place to start when looking for competitions to enter. And of course, you can find many competitions online. But don't expect miracles. Any competition worth it's reputation isn't going to give out kudos to just anyone and most of them have an entry fee or particular format you must conform to so make sure you feel your piece is worthy before entering.

And if you DO win...make sure everyone knows it. Use it as an opportunity to touch base with your customers. For those of you like me who are a little shy (don't laugh!) when it comes to marketing their services, it's a good introduction line. A good reason to make contact and remind them that you're there for them. You could invite them to celebrate with you by offering a discount or invite them to a special event.

So consider my announcement a prompt for YOU to take action! And get to work on that masterpiece.

BTW
If you'd like to take a look at my winning entry you can view it and the rest of the gallery (so far!!) here.

© mirage design. You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: graphic design, marketing, photography

For those who have been keeping tabs on the Screen Goddess IT Calendar, you'll be wanting to get your hands on some of the more recent press articles, including stories in The Australian, Business Acumen and Working Women magazine as well as a couple of news web sites in the UK.

For those that have been living under a rock, the Calendar promotes role models for women in IT in an effort to raise funds to inject back into education programs. mirage design was responsible for the art direction, image editing, design and production with photography by Chris Marr at Elite Photographics and project management by Julia Lewis at Lewis Media.

Controversy followed the early media coverage with one of the major sponsors, Australian Computer Society pulling out of the project at the last minute claiming the calendar was inappropriate. Opinion on the calendar remains divided, however if success is measured by objectives achieved (and one of the main objectives was to raise awareness on the issue of a lack of women entering the IT industry), then the calendar has certainly produced some measure of success.

mirage design was also the chief visual designer and co-contributor to the Screen Goddess IT Calendar website, a collaborative project between Megyn Carpenter of Front to Back Web Coaching and Kay Smoljak of Clever Starfish in Perth, Retta Laraway of Encompass Presentations in Adelaide and myself in Brisbane!

The drive of the current media is to promote sales of the Christmas edition of the calendar to the corporate market, with personalised pages and a special feature image of the models.

A couple of things to look out for in the calendar - there's at least one technology item in each image (often more), a hidden message and a hidden face. Check the website for details of competitions around these items.

There's a wealth of hidden things in the calendar that you will never see without knowing where to look. Perhaps the most obvious one is the Thelma and Louise shot of the convertible with the mountains in the background. This is an instance of digital wish fulfilling! The car is NOT a convertible in real life and the image was shot at Mt Coot-tha with the city in the background. Quite proud of that one if I say so myself!

If you'd like more information about the calendar or would like to order a copy (or place a corporate order for the Christmas Edition) please visit the website at www.itgoddess.info.

Labels: calendars, digital art, graphic design, image editing, web design

I've recently discovered a site where you can load up your images and showcase them to the world! The site, Deviant Art, also allows viewers to purchase prints of the images on canvas, gloss or matte stock.

I've been wanting to get some of my personal work into the public forum for some time and have now created a Deviant Art account at jane-mirage.deviantart.com. Please feel free to browse and leave your comments.

At this stage I only have deviations (viewable artworks) in my gallery (not prints). Feeling a little nervous about it all and waiting to see if there is much demand for them.(Edit: prints are now available for selected works)

If you would like to purchase prints from any of my gallery items, please email me and I will make them available as prints.

Labels: digital art, photography

mirage design is proud to announce the release of our first ever Christmas Card Collection.
Make an impression with your clients this Christmas with these unique cards featuring your company logo and personal message inside.




To see more designs, view larger versions of the cards and for pricing and orders please visit our mirage design Personalised Christmas Cards page.

Expect to see some additional designs over the coming weeks. If you would like to be informed about new design samples, please subscribe to our newsletter.

Labels: christmas cards, marketing, photography

Was fishing around the web today when I came across the Face Recognition page for MyHeritage. Just for a laugh I've included the results below. Could be a LOT worse. LOL. Try it yourself and let me know the results...

Labels: fun

Whilst visiting friends near Warrick in SE Queensland recently I spotted a couple of old EH Holdens rusting in a paddock.

I'm sure my friends thought I was mad but I was fascinated with the colours and patterns in the rust of the car bodies (and the flowering weed growing out of the engine bay of one of them!). So the next morning I got up early (despite a serious hangover) and was lucky enough to catch a light fog just beginning to clear in the winter sun...

Labels: photography

Technorati Profile

I've been spending more time than usual trawling the web lately. Browsing through information sites mostly, researching search engine optimisation and java scripts, but also researching competitors of clients I am currently developing web sites for. I'm constantly surprised by how poorly designed some of the sites are, particularly for the medium-sized business market. I'm talking about sites for businesses turning over enough income to warrant a site that reflects the status of the company, not something that looks like your cousin's teenage son did it.

One of the first things you need to ask yourself when designing a web site is "what return am I going to get on my investment?" Are you pumping thousands of dollars into a website that makes you look like a dodgy backyard job and only your Mum knows the link to (and she doesn't even know how to turn the computer on)?

Here's just a few things to consider to help make sure you're web site is using every opportunity to bring you more sales and prospects.

1. Your site should build upon your brand and represent your company. Yes, I'm a designer :) But I can't emphasise enough the importance of building your brand credibility through the design and layout of your site. Here's how most people's minds work..."Crappy site = crappy business. Well presented and designed site with informative content = (more) trustworthy business that knows their stuff."
2. Think about what is important to your customers and make sure they can find it quickly and easily. Menus should be clear and hotlinks to commonly used pages should be prominently displayed.
3. Content, content, content. You want people to keep coming back for more. So keep adding more. Fresh content will also aid in search engine rankings.
4. Include a call to action and contact information on all pages. Whilst there are some exceptions depending on the industry, generally speaking customers are more likely to take action if you explictly direct them to do so and make it easy by providing contact details.
5. Collect information from visitors through a membership or newsletter subscription. This gives you the opportunity to make further contact that may be more relevant to them and to entice them back to your site. Consider offering an e-book or special discount.
6. No-one will come to your site if they don't know it exists. Everything that leaves your office by print or online should have the web address on it. That means business cards, emails, letterhead, invoices, quotes, brochures, proposals, everything. And don't forget signage. Window signage, cars...anywhere your business name appears in public.
7. "If you build it, they will come". May have worked for Kevin Costner but it ain't gonna work for you when it comes to search engines. Seriously consider the investment of professional optimisation services or spend some time reading up on how to do it yourself. The last thing you want is for someone who is looking for you to type in your company name on Google or Yahoo and not even have you come up in the list. But you need more than that. You need to be coming up with the right keyword searches. Unless you have lots of time on your hands, I'd be making friends with a SEO consultant.
8. Consider paid advertising. I'd be straying into unknown territory to give an opinion on the pros and cons of online advertising, having neither used it myself or had clients who are using it consistently. But I know I at least cast an eye over those listings when I'm searching for something online. Certainly worth looking into if you are serious about getting your site to make money.

Following these tips wont guarantee that you can give up the day job and go live in the Bahamas, but it will make your site a little more user-friendly and increase your chances of getting something back on your web site investment (otherwise known as the Black Hole of your marketing budget).

© mirage design. You may reproduce this article as long as you include the following information including the link:

By Jane Long of mirage design. Please visit www.miragedesign.com.au for additional articles and resources on marketing and design for small business.

Labels: marketing, web design

Well blink and the year's almost gone and Christmas is now creeping up fast. This year I decided to get organised and do something I've been trying to do for the last couple of years - design and sell Christmas cards.

The last couple of years I've made a half-hearted attempt at a design, then given up. I have a couple of issues with the whole thing really...

Firstly I'm not religious so I find it challenging to produce designs that still have meaning for me as well as the general public. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-Christmas. I still think Christmas should be celebrated as a significant social event and should be a time to give and be thankful for what you have.

Over the years I've done stars, trees and Santas on the cards I send to clients but this year I wanted to expand the whole idea to produce a marketable product. So finding the right concepts was always going to be a key element of this project.

The second hold-up in my previous attempts involved the question of how much I invest in advance. Because I'm doing the design I only need to worry about the cost of printing, but what quantities should I allow for?

Ultimately I just knew I had to stop procrastinating and DO IT! (yes I did shout at myself - sometimes I need a little shove). I'm going to pre-print smaller quantities and take advance orders as early as I can to try to gauge the market.

So, posting my thoughts here will keep me committed to seeing it through. I've already completed two designs and am half way through a third. I've also started getting printing prices. Expect to see further info on this project here shortly.

So what are YOU doing about your Christmas marketing? Now is the time to get in and start planning how you can best use this opportunity to build a better relationship with your clients. Do you send a gift to your clients each year? A card? A calendar?

A card is a quick and simple way to say that you remember them and value their custom. A personal note written inside demonstrates that you are prepared to treat them as more than their account number. This helps to build a level of communication and trust between you and the client, the byproduct of which is often increased sales or a better way of working to support each other.

Jane

Labels: christmas cards, photography

hello and welcome to the mirage design blog.

I've been hearing about and looking at blogs for some time now and have decided to have a go myself. I can see it wont be too long into the future before my clients start asking for services such as this so I figured I'd best know what I'm talking about and find out what the pros and cons are.

I'd be interested in hearing other opinions on the good, the bad and the ugly of blogging. What level of difficulty do most users consider it to be, how much time do they spend maintaining the blog, etc?

I'd also be interested to hear of people's experiences on the commercial advantages and disadvantages of blogging. Are they considered a personal medium only? Is it considered impolite to make reference to your business in your blog?

Jane