Small Business Marketing Tips

I recently attending a Greater Frederick Advertising Federation event called "1,2,3...All Eyes on Me". It was a speed networking event where marketing and design professionals gave free feedback and advice to local merchants in the Downtown Frederick district. I gave advice on print design materials, including postcards, ads, brochures, etc. While each retailer had their own marketing agenda and plan, I found I was giving similar advice to all. Here's a summation of most of the advice, as it pertains to most small businesses.

1. Hire a Professional Where Needed
Sure, you may be rolling your eyes, thinking "Of course she say that, she wants to work!". Well, naturally I'd love the work, but even if I wasn't a designer, I would recommend hiring a professional to visually portray your marketing message. This doesn't mean you have spend thousands of dollars and hire a large advertising agency to do everything for you! Perhaps you are a good writer—Great! Then, you can write all your own text and send it to a graphic designer to use in a layout. Or, maybe you know your way around a computer, but are creatively-challenged. No problem, hire a designer to create templates for your ad, then you can just update them on your own! Maybe you have a bunch of ideas for content, but just can't seem to get them across. Fine! Gather all your ideas (in writing) then meet with a copywriter for an hour or two to just edit and simplify where needed. Remember, you should ALWAYS hire a professional to design your logo and your website, otherwise you will be doing a huge dis-service to your overall marketing message. Small Business owners are used to wearing many hats, but make sure to only wear the hats that fit you!

2. Stay Consistent
Make sure all your advertising and marketing has a consistent look and message, or else you will confuse your audience. This can be relatively easy, and may be something you can do on your own. For instance, in your advertising headlines, make sure all the grammar is consistent, if you initial cap every word in one headline, make sure you do the same for all. Or, be sure to use the same color palette for all your marketing. This doesn't mean everything has to be exactly the same—use a palette of 6-8 colors. Mix and match and you'll get a variety of different looks, yet all will be tied in to each other. Also, be sure to use your logo on most, if not all, of your marketing materials.

3. White Space is Your Friend
White space is a design term that refers to the portion of a page left unmarked: the space between graphics, margins, gutters, columns, etc. It allows the eye to have a visual break when scanning across a layout. A lot of small business owners who do their own design and layout want to fit as much information as possible on an ad or postcard. DO NOT DO THIS!!! Ask yourself, if I received this advertisement in the mail, would I stop to read all this tiny text and all these crazy call-outs? Be honest, no, you wouldn't, you'd probably toss it aside—I know I would (and do). If you include too much information, your audience will get overwhelmed and simply lose interest. Skim your content down so only the absolute most important information is included. Use one clever headline, followed by smaller informational text, followed by your contact info. You want to use your marketing pieces to entice your customers to come to YOU for more information, not tell them EVERYTHING upfront! No one will want to buy your milk, if you've crammed the whole cow on your ad. (well, you know what I mean)

I hope these three tips help!

Opa! Be Greek For a Day!

If you are in the western Maryland region, please stop by Frederick's Big Fat Greek Festival, which will be held Thursday, May 14 through Sunday, May 17. The festival will be open for lunch and dinner from 11:30-8:00pm, located in the Sts. Peter & Paul Greek Church lot at 920 West 7th Street, Frederick, MD. Featuring great food, specialty Greek pastries, folk dancing demonstrations, live music, Taverna nights, a children's play area, and a Greek market—it's a cultural experience for the whole family!

Kalico is proud to be in charge of Festival design and marketing again this year, and we are looking forward to nice weather and a great crowd! If you can make it, please be sure to stop by the pastry booth in the church hall and say hi! Also, don't miss the display of custom-designed beach bags by Character Bags, another Kalico client . It's Chic to be Greek, don't miss this great event!

Kalico Sponsors WHY Magazine (Work.Home.You)

Kalico Design is the sponsor of the May/June issue of WHY magazine, an ezine representing the growing number of work-at-homers in today's business world.

An eLuna Media publication, "WHY is dedicated to work-at-homers of all sorts, including entrepreneurs with start-up businesses, full-time and part-time telecommuters, those who bring work home from the office occasionally or every day, and everyone in between." Published on a bi-monthly basis, WHY offers tools and information on how to manage the stresses of trying to juggle work with personal and home demands.

As a home-based business, Kalico is very proud to sponsor such a unique, niche publication so rich with informative articles, tips and tools. Be sure to check out the most current issue of WHY Magzine!

Spring Special!

To celebrate spring, the upcoming nice weather, and one of my favorite months of the year, Kalico will be offering 10% off design service fees for brochures, newsletters, eNewsletters and catalogs during the entire month of May! Don't miss out! If you're looking to enhance your marketing materials with one of these pieces, please email me for an estimate. Keep in mind the discounted price does not include fees for printing or stock photography purchase. Offer will be good for orders placed before May 31, 2009.

FE FI FO...File Format?

Hi all. I apologize for the delay in posts, I've been dealing with a dance performance and a lingering sickness the past two weeks. But, I am just starting to feel like I'm back into the regular routine today and I wanted to be sure to get a new post up.

I've compiled a list and brief description of the file formats most commonly used for graphic designers. I often provide clients a disk of their logos in various file formats for future usage. However, there is often confusion as to which file should be used where and how and when. Hence, the Kalico Design File Format Tips list:

1. eps
Encapsulated PostScript File. This is a vector-based file. You may not be able to open this file, as it is intended for a designer or printer’s usage. However, you may be able to place this file format in an image box when using a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word. To be used on promotional materials such as t-shirts, signs or brochures, if sending off to a printer.

2. jpg
Joint Photographic Electronic Group. A common compression method that shrinks a file’s storage size by discarding non-important picture detail. You should be able to open a jpg file and/or place it in an image box when using a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word. To be used on any printed material, especially anything printed in-house.

JPGs are commonly also used for web graphics. Please check the resolution and file size in order to determine your particular jpg's intended usage. You will not want to use a web jpg on a printed piece as the file was scaled down and optimized for web-usage, so it will not print clearly. When in doubt, feel free to ask your graphic designer whether your jpg file is safe for printing or not.

3. tif
Tagged Image File Format. A common graphic file format used for saving bitmapped images such as scans, photographs, illustrations and logos. You should be able to open a tif file and/or place it in an image box when using a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word. To be used on any printed material.

4. pdf
Portable Document Format. This file is a self-contained cross-platform document. In plain language, it is a file that will look the same on the screen and in print, regardless of what kind of computer or printer someone is using and regardless of what software package was originally used to create it. You should be able to open a pdf file, and use it on mostly all printed materials, provided the pdf was distilled correctly.

5. gif
Graphics Interchange Format. GIF images display up to 256 colors. GIF images generally have very small file sizes and are the most widely used graphic format on the web. The low quality resulting from compression makes them unsuitable for professional printing. Kalico Design provides gif files that are ideal for web usage, and will have a translucent background. DO NOT USE THE GIF FILE FOR PRINTING! It has been optimized for web-usage, and the file size has been scaled down, so it will not print clearly.

While there are several more file formats used in graphic design and printing, these are the most common and basic. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions regarding a particular file format or to see if your file is safe for print or web usage.

You Send It (no, really, you can do it!)

By now, you have probably heard of the term "FTP" when talking about file transfers. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and is a way to exchange and manipulate files over a computer network, such as the Internet. Basically, it is a way to send or transfer files that are too large to email. While you may not know it, chances are you've used FTP many times before. It is most commonly used to download content, such as music MP3 files.

But, what happens when you want to send a large file to one or multiple recipients? Usually, you would need to have an FTP Client, such as Fetch, SmartFTP or FileZilla, installed on your computer. An FTP Client is software that is designed to transfer files back-and-forth between computers over an Internet connection, .

I've ran into this problem with many clients: I want to send them a large file, but they are unable to download the file b/c they do not have an FTP Client installed, have problems with their FTP client, or have forgotten their user name and password, etc. In reverse, I've also had many clients unable to send me large files via FTP, which, ultimately, results in burning files to a disk and sending them the old fashioned way, courtesy of USPS, UPS or FedEx. The only problem with this solution is the time lost during shipment.

No more, my friends! I'd like to introduce you to YouSendIt.com. YouSendIt acts as a buffer between the sender and the recipients. It is an online application that allows anyone to send large files to, well, anyone. Oh, and did I mention it's free!

At YouSendIt, you upload a file and input your recipients' email addresses. YouSendIt will then send an email message to all your recipients, with a direct link to download files. It's fast, easy, and also notifies you when your files have been sent. Check it out and let me know how YouSendIt.com works for you!

Hint: You must first archive or stuff your files to combine multiple files into one single file before sending. Examples of archiving programs include WinZip and WinRar on Windows, and Stuffit on Macs. If you'd like more information on Archiving programs, feel free to shoot me an email.

Rethink Your Marketing During this Darn Recession

I was recently interviewed by a local business magazine, Smart Company (if you're in the Western Maryland region, please be sure to get a FREE subscription, it is a great local business resource). The interview was about "rethinking your business strategy in a recession". I gave input from a design, advertising and marketing perspective and I wanted to relay some of the topics that came up.

First and foremost, even though we are facing an economic crisis, now is not the time to cut back on your marketing! But, it can be a time to rethink your marketing. Consumers are still spending, they are just being more selective and careful about their spending. Reassess your advertising efforts. Make sure all your advertising materials have reason and meaning, get across your message effectively and successfully, look professional, and are geared towards your target audience.

Approach this "downtime" as a chance to really think about how you want to be perceived by your customers. If you haven't already done so, focus on your identity and branding. Is your logo professional, clean and creative? Does it visually represent what your company does and who your company is? Do you have current business cards that are professionally printed? Is your website easy to navigate, clean and concise, up-to-date and visually eye-catching? During this economic recession, make sure your company's identity will be remembered and recognized by your clients. Make sure it is cohesive and representative of your business ethics and practice. Be positive and use this downtime to work on all the things you didn't have time to focus on before. Your company will only better from it!

My April eNewsletter will be coming out soon, and the focus is "Marketing and Design on a Budget". It will include tips and tools for cost-effective marketing, including some free resources. Don't miss out! Be sure to subscribe to Kalico's eNewsletter. (it's free and we will never share or sell your contact information, cross my heart!)