Whether you own your business or you are slashing your way through the cubicle jungle we all want to be happier at work.

Take a moment and check out these ways you can make your work life much more enjoyable.

1. Be Assertive

Express your feelings and thoughts with confidence but without needing to “win” the discussion.

2. Be Self-aware

Recognize and understand what you are feeling in any given situation and why you feel that way.

3. Be Empathic

Understand and appreciate the feelings of others, even when you feel quite differently.

4. Be Solution-focused

Rather than complain about problems, isolate them and generate an effective solution.

5. Be Appreciative

Allow yourself to enjoy your work, the presence of your colleagues and your job’s ongoing challenges.

The post 15 Ways to Be Happier at Work appeared first on New Harbor Design.

Want a step by step guide that will get you more press? Well, here you go. We found this post especially helpful this week.

If you’ve ever thought that getting press was something only the big brands could do then you should take a minute and read this post. It might change your mind (and teach you how to be successful at it too).

The post 3 Steps to Building a Solid Media List appeared first on New Harbor Design.

While we think there are WAY more than two things you should keep in mind when it comes to email marketing, this article makes a specific point worth remembering.

…email is the most popular activity on smart phones and tablets. Yep, not Facebook or search. The good old-fashioned warhorse of digital communications.

So if you’ve been trying to avoid being a “mobile marketer” but you’re doing email…guess what…you’re a mobile marketer. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you can capitalize on it.

The post The 2 Most Important Things for Email Marketers in 2013 appeared first on New Harbor Design.

What does South Park have to do with marketing your business? Yeah, we thought that was a little bit of a stretch too.

Turns out it makes sense and it is a great reminder of the fact that, when we wear our marketing hat in business, we’re really storytellers. It doesn’t matter what the medium, that principle remains.

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The post What the Creators of South Park Understand About Content? appeared first on New Harbor Design.

Are you overwhelmed by Social Media? Well, we’re pretty sure this list of 19 different tools for you to play with won’t make you any less stressed. But they will help you get some results out of social.

We can’t deny that Social Media is a part of our business (and its success). A key component in Social Media Marketing is not just pushing content out there but actually monitoring individual campaigns. We’ll let Jamie explain the difference.

Social media management is important, but but there’s another set of tools that help you do social media management along with social media monitoring. When you monitor your social media campaigns, you’re including the added dimension of tracking the brand sentiment behind your campaigns.

The post 19 Best Social Media Monitoring and Management Tools appeared first on New Harbor Design.

For our December infographic we’ll explore an under-valued segment of our businesses – our current customers. As you will see, a little extra attention to your existing customers can make a huge difference in your bottom line.

Click the Image to View a Larger Version

The post The Value of Existing Customers [infographic] appeared first on New Harbor Design.

The post The Friday Five – October 19th appeared first on New Harbor Design.

Honestly, it caught me by surprise. No one – and I mean NO ONE – had ever asked that question before. And, sadly, I couldn’t answer the question in the affirmative. I wasn’t taking the time to think. I was too busy. There were meetings to attend, projects to finish, goals to achieve, people to manage, strategies to implement. And you know the rest of the list.

I wasn’t putting time on my calendar to think. Looking back, truth be told, I probably wasn’t thinking at all. There wasn’t time. That’s why David Schwartz’ Law of Leadership Number Four (from his book The Magic of Thinking Big) has become so meaningful to me.

Take Time Out to Confer With Yourself and Tap Your Supreme Thinking Power

The best leaders spend considerable time alone with nothing but their thoughts. History has shown us that. If you read the Bible, the greatest leaders within its pages spent large amounts of time alone. Moses, King David, John the Baptist, Jesus. Each one emerged from solitude and did amazing things.

Read the lives of other religious leaders – Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Gandhi. ALL of them spent much time in solitude. And as one has put it, “Managed solitude pays off.”

The same is true for the greatest political leaders of our time, and earlier.
Perhaps the reason that there is so much ineffective leadership today is because many people fail to tap their creative leadership power because they confer with everybody and everything else but themselves.

Your leadership will never rise to the height it can unless you follow the example of the great leaders around us and before us and take some time to be alone. Further, your organization, your company, your division, your department will not rise to its potential height either.

So how do we do it?

First, remember that thinking is one of your main jobs. Yes, you have meetings to attend, budgets to create, financial reports to analyze. You’re busy, I’m busy, we’re all busy. But if you’re a leader, one of your main jobs is thinking. Thinking produces ideas, direction, improvement, strategies, initiatives, and, well… you get the idea. Thinking must be priority one.

Second, put it on your calendar. If something is important to us, where does it go? Yes – on our calendar. My spouse’s birthday, doctor appointments, tax deadlines, my wedding anniversary, my kids’ birthdays, and my vacation all have two things in common. One, they’re important, and two, they’re on my calendar. Why not schedule time to be alone… and think?

Some leadership experts say that you should try to schedule at least 30 minutes every day simply to enjoy some thinking solitude. Here’s how you can do that: get up before anyone else in your house and spend a half hour thinking. Or after everybody goes to bed, when it’s quiet, turn off the news or ESPN and just think.

Third, try to do two types of thinking: directed and undirected. Directed thinking deals with a specific issue or problem. Directed thinking comes up with possible solutions or strategies. Undirected thinking is simply going where your mind takes you. It is often a great way to do self-evaluation and improvement.

The long and short of it is this. As David Schwartz said:

“The main job of the leader is thinking. And the best preparation for leadership is thinking. Spend some time in managed solitude every day and think yourself to success.”

Tell us how you go about the task of thinking. How do you do it? When do you do it? How often? What has happened because of it? Let us know in the comments below.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and believe will add value to our readers. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post You’ll Never Think Like a Leader Unless You Take the Time to Think appeared first on New Harbor Design.

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Intro image courtesty of Squidish – Flikr Creative Commons

The post The Friday Five – October 5th appeared first on New Harbor Design.

If you have big plans for your business then I would spend less time looking on Craigslist and more time with a real logo design professional.

Regardless of your choice of designer, here are five questions you must ask when planning a new logo. This is not an exhaustive list but it will help you put some thought in to your new brand.

5. Where am I going to put it?

People often purchase a logo that ‘looks cool’ with its shading and color blends but they need it embroidered on a shirt or something. The more intricate the logo design the more difficult – read expensive – it is to apply to something else. Ask yourself ‘where/how am I going to use this logo?’

4. Does my logo design look good in solid black or white?

Back when I wrote songs I used to have a rule: It must sound good unplugged. My guitar could scream with all the distortion and sound f/x possible but the notes I played still had to sound good on their own, without the flare. If it didn’t than the foundation was not built right.

Colorful shading is great but strip all of that out. Does the logo still look good on its own – without all the decoration?

3. Does it welcome my ideal customer?

Think about it, in business, a logo must sell. We can use industry terms like “branding” all we want but the fact of the matter is that a logo is there to sell. It may need to sell your company, sell your product or service, sell your position. No matter how you look at it, it needs to sell and selling starts with ‘welcoming’ your prospect and getting them comfortable with you.

Don’t just show your logo to your girlfriend or drinking buddies (unless they are your ideal customer). Show your potential logo to people who you want to pay you for your product or service. If it speaks to them and makes them feel welcomed you might have a good logo design.

2. What does my color choice mean to my ideal customer?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to deal with this in a rebrand meeting. The founder of the company picked his colors based on what he liked NOT what his customer responded to.

Your logo is not there for you. It is there for your customers both future and present. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like the color. I’m fine if I hated the color of my logo. Why? Because I like the color ‘green’ and I’ll have plenty of that if my logo is designed to sell.

1. What am I going to do next?

Here’s the thing – logos don’t make the company. Marketing and exceptional customer experience make the company. Companies like Nike and Mercedes have made their simple, unassuming logos the brands they are today through outstanding products and relentless marketing.

Whether it’s a website or a logo design, I always tell my clients the same thing: “Even a Ferrari won’t get you to Vegas if you don’t start it up and drive it there.”

Everything on this list is important to keep in mind but it is all a waste if you don’t have a strategy in place to build your company and make it the best in your industry. I’ve seen businesses with expensive logos make no money and I’ve seen businesses without a logo start punching the million dollar mark.

Just as clothes don’t make the man, logos don’t make the company. Strategy first, design second.

Build a plan then ask yourself these questions and you’ll have an unstoppable brand.

The post 5 Must Answer Questions for Your New Logo Design appeared first on New Harbor Design.