Mind Your Business

Made With Paper

MadeWithPaper

Made With Paper

MadeWithPaper

Take 2: I wasn’t feeling the first background as much. It was nice but WAY too heavy handed. It was less “sunset” and more “blazing inferno of doom”…

Made With Paper

Sometimes, you can’t leverage what’s on the Internet due to copyright issues. So, you have to create your own works instead. I needed a background for a client who runs a small business as a massage therapist. A friend suggested that I use a few photos of sunsets. I figured the next best thing was to create something that looked like a sunset.

Made With Paper

Here’s the opportunist approach. The cart pulled up when it’s owner realized there was a captive audience with bored children. This tactic is OK if you have a short term product with a limited window of sales opportunity.

Just in case you need a visual aid, this is what loyalty looks like…

Loyalty

I’m standing in line, freezing with about 70 people (and counting) and learning an important business lesson in customer loyalty. Before I get into what I’m learning, let me backtrack for a moment and explain what the line is for: hot dogs from “Charlie’s Hot Dogs”.

I know: you must think we’re all mad. People can make hot dogs at home for cheap. Why would you stand in a LINE for them in 34 degree weather? The truth is that all of these people are here because they are, either consciously or subconsciously, driven by their memories and experiences.

Every person on the line has a fond memory or story to share about visiting Charlie’s Hot Dogs. Some people walked to the truck after school. Others grabbed a box to take with them to the beach. Others still would get their food, park their cars in the lot by the truck, and chow down. There are many people on line who brought their kids to make new memories with them.

So - what’s the point? The point is that loyalty matters in business, but you can’t get that kind of rabid devotion through trickery and advertising. You get there by giving your customers an experience which stays with them long after they walk away with your product in hand or your services rendered. Every customer or client should walk away with find memories of how you helped them in their hour of need. It doesn’t matter what you sell. What matters is how you make others FEEL.

I must create a system or be enslaved by another man’s; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.

William Blake

Tools of the trade

One point I forgot to add on to the post about all the tech available to design web pages these days: Safari Books Online. It’s fantastic for research and solving head-banging coding problems in a hurry. Link below:

http://safari.oreilly.com

Oscar Night

I’m also taking a moment to watch the Oscars, as sometimes design inspiration comes out of observing other people’s work. Lots of metallics, sequins and blacks this year. It seems like there’s a lot of conservative picks for dresses.