The Value of Introverts in Your Workplace… & How to Help Them Succeed

This is so absolutely true. Speaking as an introvert :) Thank you Jody!

The Value of Introverts in Your Workplace… & How to Help Them Succeed

Your Next Event is Virtually Yours

Technology allows us to do so many things that we weren’t able to do just a few years ago. We work remotely and our clients are all over the world; this is something that wouldn’t have even been possible a generation ago. Every day, companies and entrepreneurs are finding new and creative ways to do things. Think about it, how many jobs of the future haven’t even been imagined yet because of how quickly current technology is changing and new technology is emerging?

With budget challenges, travel restrictions, and people needing to get the best return on their time investment, is it time for conferences and other events to go virtual too?

By incorporating technology, you can offer a complete conference experience through a virtual event. Let’s explore further:

Registration – This one is a no-brainer – if you aren’t using technology for conference or event registration you should be. Not only is it easier and more efficient for your attendees, you can process payments, collect information, and follow up much easier using readily available technology.

Marketing – Depending on the size of your event, you may still incorporate some direct mail into your event marketing, but you definitely should incorporate technology as well. Incorporating email messaging, your event website, social media, and video into your marketing tactics will significantly increase your reach and return.

Attendance – Technology allows you to hold your event in a virtual space. You can use webinar, online meeting software, or video conferencing to provide a meeting space for each of your sessions.

Trade Show or Exhibit Hall – You can even incorporate an exhibit hall and sponsorships into a virtual conference. Some online meeting software includes event halls that offer your attendees the complete trade show experience of interacting with exhibitors of their choice. Think of the cost savings for exhibitors!

Interaction – Now the naysayers are starting to squirm. Yes, you can offer a significant amount of interaction through a virtual event! Online meeting software on its own offers interaction through polling, chat opportunities, VOIP interaction, and more. But you don’t have to stop there. Branch out using social media to hold pre-scheduled Twitter chats, add forums or a wiki or blog to keep the conversation going, hold teleconference or video conference sessions to add networking or interactive opportunities. The interactive ability of your virtual event is only limited by your imagination!

Flexibility – A virtual event offers significantly more flexibility for your attendees. They can choose to attend all or some sessions offered live, or can catch any they miss because of schedule conflicts by viewing the recorded version of the live sessions. Recordings can stay online for a period of time after the conference as an ongoing resource for attendees. Sessions can be accessed anywhere there is Internet access, and no travel is required, which saves a significant amount of time and money for attendees.

Bottom line? When incorporating technology and interactivity wisely, conference and event planners can offer a significant benefit and cost savings to their audiences by holding events entirely in a virtual environment, or at the very least incorporating virtual opportunities into their physical events.

Would you like to attend your next conference virtually?

__
Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing, event planning and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Learn more about their upcoming virtual conference Women on the Edge (of Greatness!) at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com/conference.html.

 

What will you do to get out of your comfort zone today?

Take a look at our new video!

What does your Out of Office message say about you?

I just sent an email, and buried on the cc line was the email of someone who lives about as far across the country from me as possible. I’ve never met him and likely never will. We were just 2 independent souls whose professional email addresses were both included on a message that connected us. I responded to the email – replying to all – and received the following Out of Office message:

“My daughter is being born! Be back later.”

I had to respond. Not only because I wanted to congratulate this excited father-to-be on the expansion of his family, but to let him know his message had made my day.
 
When was the last time an Out of Office message invoked an emotion in you?

Most of us are in the habit of keeping our Out of Office replies professional. In fact, they are dry – dessert sand dry.

“I will be out of the office Monday through Friday returning Monday with limited access to emails. If you need assistance in my absence please contact XYZ”

It gets the job done, but there is no connection.

So, your challenge this week is to figure out some new and innovative ways to make an impact with your Out of Office message! We want to hear from you! Reply back with creative messages you have used or seen in the past or ideas you plan to use in the future!

__
Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Visit the ProfessionalEdge website at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com, email info@gettheprofessionaledge.com, follow them on Twitter @profedge, or like their Facebook page.

Ten tips to keep your website fresh

You’ve heard us say that your website is one of your front doors, especially if you are an online or remote business. It should be clean, free of cobwebs, with a fresh coat of paint, and oh so welcoming.

Here are ten simple tips to help you keep your website fresh:

Keep the look and feel current

The look and feel of your website (and other company collateral and social media sites) is as important as the clothes you wear. It is the eye-catching part of your brand and it is important that it represents your company today, not 5 years ago. It doesn’t take a total rewrite of your website to update the look and feel. It can be as simple as a new header, some new pictures, or a new color scheme. Don’t let your look and feel get stale or that’s the impression customers and potential customers will receive.

Change content often – it’s not that hard!

You will often hear the mantra “Content is King!” and it’s the absolute truth. The content on your website should change often and there are many different ways to do that. Some companies nowadays use a blog or Facebook page in lieu of a website. That is one way to assure that your content is always current – so long as you are always posting new content. But if you are using a traditional website, you can easily update content. We talk about several ways to do this below.

Access is everything

It is critical that people know how to stay connected with your business. Be sure that access to you is prominent on the home page and throughout your site. Update icons and links as you add new social mediums. Don’t make people search to figure out how to keep in touch.

Tell people the good stuff going on

One of the easiest ways to keep content up-to-date is to include current information about your sales, new customers, new staff, new products, improvements to old products, etc. Include a quick summary on your home page and allow visitors to drill down to get more information.

Talk about your team

One of your greatest assets is your team and you should showcase your team members as often as possible. This serves two purposes – let’s your customers learn more about your team, and is a morale booster. If you are just a small shop and showcasing would equal tooting your own horn, include information about your partners, board members, star vendors, etc. They are all a part of your team!

Use your current customers to help you get new customers

There is nothing better than a customer testimonial to help tell your story. Look how Amazon.com uses customer reviews to help sell each and every product in their massive arsenal. Request testimonials from everyone and post them on your website!

Add video to spark interest

Video captures attention – it’s something unique and quick that can tell your story. Add video to your website – particularly on the home page. But don’t have it play automatically! That can be a huge turn off to your visitors.

Add promotions or events

Be sure to update your website with every promotion and event you hold. Don’t forget to capitalize on national events like Small Business Saturday so you can leverage their marketing!

Add a Twitter or RSS feed 

You can add some simple code to your website that will continue working for you without any additional work on your part. Add a simple Twitter feed or RSS list and it will do the updating for you!

Make it a priority!

The most important thing to remember is, even though it seems like a daunting task, if you make updating your website a priority you can make it happen in just a few minutes each week. So make it a priority! Add it to your task list!

These simple tips can help you keep your website fresh and inviting so people will want to continue to visit through that door.

__
Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Visit the ProfessionalEdge website at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com, email info@gettheprofessionaledge.com, follow them on Twitter @profedge, or like their Facebook page.

How do you put your tray down at the end of the day?

Recently I read the following post on a friend’s Facebook page and was reminded of it at 3 AM this morning when my mind was racing from one work or life-related topic to another.

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: ..."How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." She continued, "The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything."

It’s important to remember to let go of your stresses. As early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night. Remember to put the glass down!

In today’s world, we don’t only carry one glass. Sometimes it feels like there is a tray of 100 different glasses we are lifting carefully as we step over the loads of laundry and scattered kid and canine toys. There are different sized glasses, some holding more water than others. Hopefully, none of the glasses is too full so that it throws the entire tray off balance and everything comes crashing to the ground.

So, this post is a call-out to all of you. What are your tricks for making sure you place that tray in a safe spot at the end of your day, tucked away out of your mind, hopefully some of the water having evaporated leaving it lighter when you pick it up along with the Legos the next morning?

 

__
Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Visit the ProfessionalEdge website at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com, email info@gettheprofessionaledge.com, follow them on Twitter @profedge, or like their Facebook page.

 

What the heck is a JPEG and do I even need one?

So you have designed your logo or other elements of your look and feel or had someone design them for you. As we discussed in our recent blog The Many New Faces of Your Logo, logos or similar graphic elements should first be designed in vector format so they will be fully scalable up or down and will meet any of your future design sizes and needs without compromising the quality of the graphic. But there are so many other things to consider. For example, you can’t use an .eps or .ai vector graphic on a website or on your blog. So what the heck is a .gif and a .jpg? And, when should you just use a Word doc with your graphics or photos inserted in them (hint: NEVER!)?

As graphic designers we’ve seen it all. We often receive logo files or ads to place in conference program books, on websites, in collateral and the like, and we receive everything you can imagine. We’ve seen teeny, tiny low resolution photos, small ads that are actually small graphics with a lot of white space around them in an 8 ½” x 11” file, and yes, even graphics placed in Word documents. It’s important that businesses understand the importance of your graphics and what formats you will need in order to assure your brand is always best representing you. If you use a graphic designer, be sure they know your needs and goals so they provide you with all the files you need up front.

Following are some graphic dos and don’ts as well as some different graphic and photo formats, each with a small explanation of what they are and when they might be needed.

Graphic Do’s

• Do know the basic graphics formats you will need
• Do get your files from your graphic designer (they are YOUR graphics!)
• Do hire a graphic designer if you don’t have the talent in house to look your best – it will cost you less in the long run!
• Do use high resolution photos and vector graphics for your printed materials

Graphic Don’ts

• Don’t design your look and feel, logos, ads, or other collateral in Word or some other non-graphic program
• Don’t stretch photos, resize them
• Don’t use photos or other graphics off the web for your printed materials
• Don’t ever take a low resolution graphic, turn it into an .eps and think it will be high resolution

Basic Graphic Formats for Small Businesses

AI - Adobe Illustrator's metafile format. This is the native Illustrator file type and is a vector format. You can create .eps files from an .ai file.

EPS - Encapsulated Postscript files can be created using Adobe Illustrator plus a host of other software programs. If the original file is a vector file, your .eps will be vector as well. This is a common graphic file type and you should have a vector version of your logo (in multiple colors!) as an .eps so it can be sized up or down to meet any need.

GIF - Graphics Interchange Format  is a very efficient and still quite popular picture format. GIF animations are a popular form of Web multimedia, because they're small and display in most current browsers without needing a special plug-in or taking up many computer resources. GIF’s only have 256 colors, or 256 shades of grey. This is a format you may want to use for online graphics, but not for your print materials.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), commonly called JPEG and with the filename extension .jpg, can be an efficient image type. Your digital camera may save files as JPEGs. JPEGs can be optimized and some of their data discarded so they can be useful for web-based applications. JPEGs can also support CMYK (four color separation) so they can be used in printed materials as long as the resolution is high and the compression is low.

PNG - The Portable Network Graphics format, pronounced "ping". We like .png files for use on the web because they can have a transparent background and still have a high resolution at a low file size.

PSD - Adobe Photoshop's native format, which stores all of its layers, selections, and miscellaneous other image data. This is a source file similar to AI.

TIF - TIFF stands for Tag Image File Format. TIFF is a very popular professional graphics format used for printing because it allows for CMYK separation with out compression.

There are many, many other graphic file formats, but these are just some of the basics that may be helpful as you run your business and work to put your best brand forward every day. Do you have all the graphic files you need?

__
Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Visit the ProfessionalEdge website at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com, email info@gettheprofessionaledge.com, follow them on Twitter @profedge, or like their Facebook page.

Brilliant Marketing Use of Superbowl Power Outage Time - FREE!

Oreo wins the night! (in our humble opinion) What did you think?

Best Superbowl Commercial 2013

The many new faces of your logo

No longer do you only design a company logo for letterhead, some shirts or other promotional items, and your website. When designing your logo you must consider its many different uses, including multiple sizes, different shapes, and possible color requirements.

The first and most important thing to be certain of when creating your logo or having one created for you is to design it originally in a vector format. Vector graphics, unlike raster graphics, are fully scalable up or down and will meet any of your future design sizes and needs without compromising the quality of the graphic. There are many different vector formats, but one of the most popular for two dimensional graphics is AI or Adobe Illustrator. We will go into more detail about the different types of graphic files you will need in a future blog post.

For now, let’s think about all the different ways and places you will use your logo so you can design a logo that is adaptable to all of them. Following are some you may need along with specs currently in place as of this writing for those that have a standard. We’ve used different variations of our logo to show how it can be adapted to each scenario. Note that social media sites update their requirements often (especially Facebook who has changed header requirements more often than some people change socks). So be sure to check with specific sites for current specs before you start designing.

Embroidery or screen printing – most companies at some point want to use their logo on shirts, hats, mugs, or other promotional items. You will need a black or grayscale version, a fully white version, and a color version available depending on the specific company’s requirements. Vector is almost always a requirement for a good logo quality. You also may need versions with and without your tagline.

Websites – remember to design your logo not only for your website, but for use on others as well. I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve placed logos on a website for companies and they are frustrated with how their logo shows up next to the competition. Keep that in mind when designing your logo! Most websites have no more than 200-300 pixels wide of space when placing multiple logos – so be sure whatever you design fits well in a small space. A logo with multiple words in a long straight line won’t scale down well. You may also want to think of designing a more stackable or square version of your logo.

Large scale printing – think billboards, buses, banners, exhibit booths, etc. You want your name and logo colors to stand out and catch the eye. Check out some posters and banners we’ve created for our clients here.

Social media – every site is different – here are some of the current most popular site requirements:

~Twitter – You definitely need a sharp, legible 73 x 73 version of your logo for your Twitter profile pic. You also have the option now of including a 1252 x 626 pixel header or a background like ours, which is 230 x 1238 pixels aligned to the left.

~Facebook – Currently you need a 160 x 160 pixel logo and a cover photo that is 851 x 315 pixels like this.

~LinkedIn – Your business LinkedIn page requires a 100 x 60 pixel logo and a 646 x 218 pixel cover photo – you can take a look at ours here.

So you can see just some of the many requirements you will have for your logo. These will continue to change as social media sites change requirements and you expand into other social media avenues. Your logo is often the first thing customers and potential customers will see when they connect with you, so be sure to stay on top of them so your business is always represented in the best possible way at first sight.

__
Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Visit the ProfessionalEdge website at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com, email info@gettheprofessionaledge.com, follow them on Twitter @profedge, or like their Facebook page.

What will your puddle be today?

What will you learn this year?

Lifelong learning is no longer just a buzz phrase like it was a few years ago. It is a fundamental requirement in life. Constant and dramatic changes to technology make it imperative, especially in business, that we are always learning and growing, keeping up with new ideas and new ways to do things better and more efficiently.

Each year we should be learning new software, new tricks and avenues for social media, new ways to expand our business outreach for less, new ways to incorporate technology into our lives, and so much more.

Among other things, in 2012 we continued to learn how to best implement social media into our own business and for our customers, we started this blog as a new way of sharing information with our target audience and continuing the conversation with them, we increased our Twitter use and concentrated on adding and communicating with new followers in our target markets, and we learned how to create and implement a new solution for a client when the only options available cost thousands of dollars and were less than efficient.

I personally continue to learn and read and grow so I can be a better wife, parent, daughter, sister, friend, and business owner. 2013 already promises to bring exciting new learning opportunities – both professionally and personally.

Let’s get the conversation going! Will you share one thing you plan to learn in the coming year?

__
Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Visit the ProfessionalEdge website at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com, email info@gettheprofessionaledge.com, follow them on Twitter @profedge, or like their Facebook page.

Is your exhibit booth approachable?

We are definitely in conference and trade show season, and there are many things to consider when you choose to invest good money into exhibiting at a conference.  Last week we asked when it was time to consider a professional exhibit designer; this week we will go further into not only the design of your exhibit booth, but also whether or not the booth is approachable.  Obviously the number one goal of exhibiting is to reach as many qualified prospects as possible and get your information into their hands. Your exhibit booth plays a major role in this process, so let’s begin by taking a look at the design. 

1.       Does your booth design invite people in or shut them out?  A typical 8 x 10 exhibit booth usually includes one table.  Where do you put it?  If it is at the side of the booth, attendees can walk in and around the space.  If it is out in front of the booth, the message is “you belong on that side of the table, not in the booth”.  That may still work if your table is the focal point, but if you want people to enter the space for a conversation, to view your materials or experience a demonstration, open it up!

2.   Entertain a little.  Remember that conference attendees’ days are long too.  They are in workshops, networking groups, meeting bosses for dinner, etc., and an exhibit hall may just appear as a blur of lights, graphics, and never-ending sales pitches.  You may need to work a little more to get their attention.  Have fun and/or useful promotional items.  If it is appropriate, dress in a costume or play some music to stand out from other vendors.  Have a larger item drawing or an important announcement, and build some buzz ahead of time so attendees will come back for that moment.

3.       The “make or break” component to your exhibit booth is the person or people staffing it.  How many times do you see a person slouched in a chair behind a book, newspaper, a smartphone, or computer, or talking on the phone in an exhibit booth?  The message here is “I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to talk to you, don’t bother me.  Exhibiting is often extremely expensive, especially when factoring in travel costs.  Make sure the person who is the face of your company at a tradeshow is friendly, engaging, knowledgeable, and willing. Otherwise you are throwing money down the drain, and giving a very poor impression of your company.

Next time you exhibit, step out of the booth and see it from the attendee’s standpoint.  And ask yourself “How approachable is my exhibit booth? “

__
Kim Luedke is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Visit the ProfessionalEdge website at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com, email info@gettheprofessionaledge.com, follow them on Twitter @profedge, or like their Facebook page.

I'm more like you than different - Read Tim's Story

My Story: Tim Harris

Taking the leap…to trusting an experienced exhibit company?

So, you've tested the waters in trade show marketing with a do-it-yourself display booth. You have an exciting product/service. You have a good team. You probably have some loyal clients that helped you get on the map, right?  Still, you look across the show floor and can tell the image you project could be well…more impressive.

Regardless of how frugal you are, when do you know it’s the right time to take the leap from designing, building and installing your own trade show display to working with a professional exhibit company to do these things for you?  The answer might be easier than you think. Here are 3 basic factors to consider to help you make the evaluation.

1) Competition – If you’re in an industry where everyone brings a do-it yourself booth, then maybe you shouldn't spend more. It might be that projecting a frugal image is the right image to be successful in your industry. For example, the ASD/AMD show is a show of surplus and discount import merchandise from kitchen to toys to tools, and everything in between. Industry leaders present at that show tend to use large, do-it-yourself trade show displays in an attempt to look both successful and frugal, and it usually works. By contrast, if you’re in an industry  such as the hi-tech industry, a frugal do-it-yourself booth can project the image of being a weak competitor. Overall, it’s not hard to tell if a strong, successful image is the norm on any show floor, and this simple evaluation will help you decide if a do-it-yourself booth is right for you.

2) Synergy – You’re already investing big money to participate in your trade show. There is cost of the booth space, the travel, the hotel, food, entertainment and more. When you develop a complete trade show budget, you realize that your booth is a smaller portion of your investment, but the one which may have the biggest impact on how the rest of your investment delivers. Your exhibit design will have an effect on how confident your staff is on the show floor, and your exhibit design is the first impression your company gives to attendees, letting your clients know how you're evolving in the market. If you’re going to invest in the trade show marketing game, why not play to win?

3) Time – Once you see the bigger picture, you see each trade show as a three month event, one that takes time and effort to cultivate interest, differentiate on the show floor, and finally, convert leads to dollars. From this perspective, you’ll see benefit in focusing your efforts in sales marketing and business development before, during and after the trade show. The day before and the day after the show are great days to schedule meetings, or meals to toast a new relationship.

Hopefully this helps you identify if the time is right for you to make the leap to a high-impact trade show display, designed and executed by a professional exhibit company. Once you decide, you need only find a good, like-minded exhibit house to serve as your partner. The exhibit industry is largely an owner-operator business, as there is little advantage to being a huge company. It’s a custom business, and buying-power doesn't get much better with size. In fact, overhead is the leading downfall of bigger trade show companies. So, look for companies with skill, creativity, and experience, especially in the upper ranks. It's also a good idea to try to find a company where you feel comfortable developing a personal relationship with the owner.

Most exhibit houses grow by word of mouth, so don’t let the top results in Google be your only measure. Talk with friends to see if they've found a exhibit company they love. Browse portfolios and look for genuine testimonials. Most exhibit houses will develop a photo-realistic design with a quote, free of charge, in hopes of winning your business. This is your opportunity to shop a few companies to evaluate their skill and commitment to quality and service. Don’t hesitate to discuss materials, fabrication processes, or to ask for some show floor pictures. Once you've decided on an exhibit house, if it’s a good choice, your experience and your booth display will only get better, show after show!

Trade shows are the incubator of the free market and innovation. Trade show marketing is, in part, gut-feel marketing. Though the actual sales you receive directly from the show may not justify the investment, your participation may spark interest that leads to eventual business. Evaluate your needs objectively, keep egos at bay, and take only calculated investment risks. You want to show a steady pattern of growth and improvement on the show floor, so avoid risks that may lead to downsizing. 

Trade shows are always exciting experiences, and now with this knowledge, you’re armed and dangerous! Always strive to improve and grow your company and your trade show presence, and remember that everyone starts somewhere; Bill Gates launched Microsoft in a 10 x 10 booth.

__

Matt LaBruzza is the owner of Exhibit People, a Las Vegas based Exhibit Company specializing in trade show display rentals. Exhibit People offers exhibit design, exhibit construction and trade show services so you need only show up and sell.  Visit Exhibit People’s website at www.exhibitpeople.com, email Matt at matt@exhibitpeople.com and follow them on Twitter @exhibitpeople or like their Facebook page.