Fostering Innovation, Embracing Mistakes

Think mistakes are always bad? Think again. William L. McKnight, a former president and chairman of the board at 3M, has been credited by many with fostering the company’s emphasis on innovation. In 1948, while president of the company, McKnight had this to say about mistakes.

“Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs. Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative.”

Today, 3M holds patents on hundreds (if not thousands) of products, ranging from Scotch® brand tapes and Post-It® Notes to fiber optics, fuel cell components, security devices, and more. By accepting mistakes as an inevitable part of business, 3M has built and maintained a highly successful brand in a fiercely competitive market. Along the way, they’ve earned a reputation as a leader in fostering innovation and attracting top talent to their team.

So what can you learn from one of the world’s leading brands? Embracing initiative means accepting mistakes and learning to loosen the reins.

The Power of a Good Word

Referrals are among the most effective and least expensive marketing tools available to small business owners. People don’t always trust an ad or sales call, but they do trust their friends.

Think about the places you’ve done business with in the past week, month, or year. What first led you to those establishments? Was it an ad on TV, on the radio, or in the newspaper? Perhaps a piece of direct mail? Maybe a billboard or website? Or a particularly persuasive sales call? All of these are effective means of marketing to the public. But none is as effective as a referral from a colleague or friend.

A referral from a friend will carry far more weight in most people’s minds than the cleverest ad or most well-articulated sales call. So how can you generate more referrals for your company?

• Model it. If you want your customers to start referring people to you, refer your friends and colleagues to your customers’ companies, too. Reciprocity is a powerful thing. If you refer business to others, they will be far more likely to refer business to you.
• Ask. When you meet with established customers to follow up on a sale or just to check in, ask if they know anyone else who might need your services. Even if they can’t think of anyone on the spot, your question will plant a seed and remind them to think of you when they do come across a friend who might benefit from what you sell.
• Offer an incentive. Provide a discount or special thank-you gift for those who do provide referrals. Make it something fun and worthwhile that will make your customers realize how seriously you take their business. In some cases, that might mean a month of free service, a free upgrade or enhanced service plan, or some other unique perk available only to them. Tailor your incentive to your own specific business and customer base. You may also want to offer a discount to the prospect who was referred.
• Keep doing what you’re doing. If you’re providing outstanding service and support, along with exceptional products and services, referrals will come. If someone enjoys doing business with you and feels like you’re providing good value for their money, it’s almost certain that eventually they will start telling others about you and talking you up with their friends and colleagues. Of course, the opposite is true, as well, so make sure you’re providing the kind of service worthy of a positive referral.
• Say thanks. Whether you have a formal referral program or not, when someone tells you they were referred by a friend, make a point of thanking that friend. Even something as simple as a hand-written note in the mail will let your customer know how much you appreciate their kindness.

The Power of Words

Here’s a little story about how the power of words can evoke emotion, especially in the world of marketing.

An elderly blind man was sitting on a busy street corner with a cardboard sign next to an empty tin cup. The sign read, “Blind — Please help.” People would glance at the sign, but nobody gave the man any money.

Then a young copywriter saw the man with his sign and empty cup. He felt disappointed as he watched all the people walk past without an ounce of empathy, so he took a marker, flipped the sign over, and rewrote the blind man’s message.

Suddenly, people started putting money in his cup until it was overflowing. Surprised, the blind man asked a stranger to tell him what the sign said. He replied, “It’s a beautiful day. You can see it. I cannot.”

Jared from Subway Has Important Marketing Advice For You

So what in the world could a pitchman for sub sandwiches be able to teach you about marketing? As it turns out, quite a bit!

Jared’s story about how he lost weight while eating Subway sandwiches has some important marketing lessons that should not go unnoticed. With a little thought and analysis, you can choose the areas where you can apply these lessons to your business.

Lesson number one — Jared has an intriguing story that people become curious to learn more about. This story line is interesting and different, which helps it stand out from the barrage of boring, yawn-inspiring advertisements. Think about how you can create a story around your products, services, and brand. Strive for real human interest, not just simple feature descriptions.

Lesson number two — Jared’s story has an emotional appeal to it. The story is believable, and people become engaged because we all like to pull for underdogs. Every human being makes daily purchasing decisions with emotional aspects to them. If you can infuse your brand story with believable emotional appeal, you will have a distinct advantage over your competition.

Lesson number three — Jared provides visual proof that eating at Subway has helped him take off the pounds. As much as possible and in as many areas as possible, you must provide testimonials and proof in your marketing that reassure your audience how your products and services will work for them, too.

Lesson number four — The Jared campaign has been running for a long time now. Surely, the franchisees, employees, corporate management, and even the ad agency handling the account must be getting sick and tired of seeing the Jared ads. Many companies, large and small, mistakenly stop a successful marketing campaign simply because they themselves are tired of it, even though their audience is still responding. If you need entertainment, go to the movies. If you want to make money, continue running a successful ad until your market stops responding to it and the campaign stops producing results.

Lesson number five — This lesson is perhaps the most important for you and your company. Subway makes sandwiches. Sure it has a little different twist, but it is similar to thousands of other sub shops across the country. One of the things that has helped it stand apart and enjoy growing sales is that Subway was the first within its category to take its product (subs) and reposition it as a health food. Through Jared’s story, Subway took a sub sandwich and turned it into a diet product. With one simple story, the company was able to tie into the healthy eating wave. The product didn’t change much, but the story around the product did. Now how brilliant is that?

So how can you reposition what you currently sell into something that can increase the value proposition without completely recreating it? Jared and Subway have provided a path. Create a story with emotional appeal that repositions you and your business in the minds of your target audience. If Subway can turn bread and sandwich meat into a diet pill, surely you can come up with something.

FAQ: What file types can you take?

Another frequent question we get is “What sorts of files should I send you?” We prefer receiving a print-ready high resolution PDF complete with crop marks and .125” bleeds, but we also can accept high resolution TIFF, JPEG, PSD and EPS file types as well as native documents from our accepted applications. Print-ready PDF files save time in many ways, as we can quickly and easily set them up to print digitally, or run them through our computer-to-plate system for offset press jobs. Native files allow more flexibility if you expect to have changes you need us to make – just make sure you send all linked files and fonts associated with the file!

Our Accepted Applications:

• Adobe InDesign*
• Adobe Illustrator*
• Adobe Photoshop
• QuarkXPress*
• Pagemaker
• Corel Draw
• Freehand
• Microsoft Publisher
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Powerpoint
• Microsoft Excel

Have a file type not listed here? Please contact us, as chances are we can take it!

 *Preferred applications are Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, and QuarkXPress. Native documents MUST be sent with all linked files and fonts included.

Here at Action Graphics we prefer the Adobe Creative Suite programs – they are made for design and printing and do their jobs very well – but we are experienced with many other types of software also. You are always welcome to call us before creating your job, and we will help you set it up correctly to save you time and money.

What if your files have been lost? We can help! Our design department is experienced in re-creating lost art as closely as we are able. Lost files also offer a perfect opportunity for a design update.

And of course, if you are starting from scratch, we can do the design for you from the ground up. Just call us (704-332-1164) or come in and show us what you have, and tell us what you need. We will create a custom design to fit your needs!

Can Simplicity Win?

Today Google is known for many things, including its innovations and search engine domination. But with the passage of time, it is easy to forget an important lesson Google provided that we can all learn from and apply to our own businesses.

Not long ago, Yahoo! and AOL dominated the Internet like Google does now. It was common to use the homepages of these past giants to see calendars, news, sports scores, weather, stock quotes, personals, email, auctions, games, classifieds, travel information, and more. The thinking was that more is better, and so they kept adding more. Shopping, horoscopes, real estate…the list goes on.

Then came Google. In complete contrast, the Google homepage contained just a simple logo and search box. Underneath the search box, there were two simple options: “Google Search” and “I’m Feeling Lucky.”

At a time when we are being bombarded with marketing messages and our email boxes are packed with spam, it’s no wonder many complain of information overload. Maybe to stand apart and catch attention it’s time to do the opposite of everyone else. Sometimes less is better. Sometimes simple wins.

It seems to be working quite well for Google.

Become a Resource for Your Customers

The average prospect is bombarded by so many salesmen eager for their business that they can be selective over the solution provider they choose. While quality and price will always remain important factors, the level of expertise and guidance provided is often just as important. Here are a few ways you can become a resource for your customers:

• Offer hands-on training as an extension of your customer’s organization. By enhancing their ability to anticipate, understand, and solve problems, you can help them develop solutions faster and more efficiently than on their own.
• Provide a newsletter, or encourage customers to sign up for your blog. Then fill that newsletter or blog with tips, articles, industry trends, new product highlights, and relevant industry articles and resources. Create an archive section on your website that makes all previous information you’ve provided available for viewing.
• Create a resource page on your website that offers a comprehensive list of engaging and helpful links to industry resources, helpful websites, associations, event calendars, etc.
• Create an industry chat forum through your web page that gives people with similar interests the ability to chat with others about your industry, products, resources, etc.
• Stay current on industry trends and new products, as well as competitor solutions, so you can offer educated answers to your customers.
• Stay involved with your customers. Periodically check in to see how they are doing and to show that you sincerely care about them and your relationship with them.
• Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Learn more about their industry, customers, associations, events, etc. Think of creative ways you can help them be more successful in their ventures.
• Don’t just use a sales pitch. Instead, share your enthusiasm and knowledge. Salespeople who are passionate are the most successful because their belief in the products or services shines through.

Here at Action Graphics we are working on ways to be the best resource we can for our customers, from providing the best quality printing possible to helping them to market their brand. Contact us today to see how we can help YOU!

What does a $300 million cable have to do with your bottom line?

We’ve all heard the adage that time is money. Well, in the financial markets of New York and London, they measure that time in milliseconds and the money in hundreds of millions of dollars.

More precisely, a new transatlantic cable, currently in development, will save traders about 6 milliseconds per transmission. The project’s cost: $300 million. Once finished, the company behind the cable plans to charge as much as 50 times more to use the service than existing alternatives, and financial companies are already chomping at the bit to pay.

Why? According to one estimate, a savings of just one millisecond would add $100 million to a large hedge fund’s annual bottom line.

So where can your company shave time?

• Start small. Sure, you’re not likely to see a $100 million savings, but even little time-savers — a few minutes here, a couple seconds there — add up and can help you work more productively.
• Streamline processes. Engineers working on the new transatlantic cable project studied commercial flight paths between New York and London in planning their route. As a result, the new cable will be about 310 miles shorter than existing lines. What best practices can you follow to achieve similar savings at your company?
• Plan for the future. This is the first new transatlantic line installed in the last 10 years, and planners have spared no expense to make sure it lives up to its promise. If it fails — or someone builds a faster conduit — all they’ll have is a very expensive piece of cord lying at the bottom of the ocean. So how can you plan ahead to keep momentum going? Start by investing in technology, building up infrastructure, and creating a mindset of efficiency and effort at your company.

Why You Must Diversify Your Marketing

If you ever listen to financial experts, you will inevitably come across an often repeated phrase: “Diversify your financial portfolio.” Why do financial planners preach this ad nauseam?

History has taught them that, if you put all of your eggs in one basket, you increase your risk of losing your portfolio. The greater the concentration in one type of investment (just stocks, or just bonds, or just parking cash in a low-interest money market account), the greater the risk that you will lose in the long run. So diversification in this instance is really just risk management.

Advertising and marketing have been around a long time now. Traditional options range from mass marketing like radio, TV, billboard, and newspaper ads to personalized print and direct mail advertising. Websites, email marketing, social media, and mobile ads are the new kids on the block. Experts in each of these specialties claim their medium is the best investment. Whether a fresh-out-of-school social media guru or an old-school yellow page ad rep, each has a valid point to consider that paints their tool in the best light.

So what should you do? Which medium really is the best to use for your business? Is it better to focus on online marketing, or to focus on print marketing? Only you can answer that, but the smart money may be to take a page out of the financial experts’ wisdom and apply it to marketing your company: diversification. You don’t need to use every advertising medium known to man, but you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket either.

The prospects, leads, and customers you are looking for use different media for different reasons. When you only use one, you are only reaching a small portion of your audience. So manage risk in your marketing campaigns by diversifying your marketing portfolio. When you accomplish this, your financial portfolio will be much happier, too!

At Action Graphics we appreciate the importance of diverse marketing strategies. All logos we design are delivered in formats designed for high-quality printing as well as for use online. We encourage the use of QR codes on printed material, combining online and print marketing in one piece. Visit us today to see how we can help you make the most of your marketing budget!

Time to order holiday cards!

Labor Day has come and gone, and temperatures are getting (slightly) cooler… that means it’s time to order holiday cards! No, it’s not too early; I’ve already seen Christmas decorations up for sale in a few places!

Holiday cards are a great way for businesses to send a little cheer to valued customers and clients, and custom holiday cards make your personal cards memorable. We offer a wide range of styles, from traditional to modern, and have cards for all the major upcoming holidays. Whether you prefer a religious card or a secular one, seasonal or patriotic, serious or humorous, even calendars or photo holders – we’ve got you covered. You can even stand out from the pack by sending your message early… with a Thanksgiving card!

Your holiday cards can be personalized with a verse of your choice, your name, and a return address for your envelopes, in a variety of colors. Instant proofing makes sure you are satisfied before you purchase.

Get FREE envelope printing when you order by September 30!

Go to our special Holiday Card site to order today! Or if you need something even more customized – or any other type of printing – visit Action Graphics or call us at 704.332.1164.