Where does your small business fit in? Do you have a plan? Swimming up current does not have to be painful or something to dread. Instead, this is a time for innovation and creative problem solving. Crossover Graphics is here to help. The effects of the recession are mere opportunities for growth and a basic understanding of your options is a great way to start! Check out these easy-to-implement marketing options (Strauss):

1. Online interaction, including: Youtube, Flickr, Slideshare, and other online sharing tools. This option is great for low marketing budgets. Video and photo sharing builds interaction with your target audience while building brand awareness and accessibility to your product or service.

2. Social Media: New trends have shown the power of social media. It is now one of the number one tools used by individuals, small businesses, and organizations. Options include: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and MANY more. Want more information? Crossover Graphics can offer our consulting services!

3. Blogs: What you and others communicate about your company is crucial. Setting up blog accounts are simple and many are free. Use this tool to supplement your website.

4. Basic and Affordable Marketing: Some of these options can really help bypass your tight budget. For instance, point-of-sale coupons, word of mouth, and direct mail are coming back!

These techniques will allow your business to focus on innovation. Many of these options are free and all are easily implemented! Take time to do this today. Remember you are not alone. In a recent New York Times article, “Small Business Owners Are Coping, and Are Feeling Grateful For The Bright Spots,” three small businesses have found innovative solutions to the recession problem. Can you relate and what have your experiences been? Share with us here; help us build an online community. You can succeed during these times. Let’s band together and overcome.

References:
Small-Business Owners Are Coping, and Feeling Grateful For The Bright Spots. New
York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-09
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/nyregion/28small_web.html?_r=1 .

Strauss, Steve. Ask an Expert: 2009’s Top Small Business Trends, USAToday.com.
Retrieved 2009-09-09.
www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/strauss/2009-01-05-top-trends-for-small-business_n.htm

The Associated Press. Economy Dips At 0.7 Percent Pace in 2Q, National Public Radio.
Retrieved 2009-09-09.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103396584

Crossover is continuing to grow at warp speed. At the beginning of the summer, there were two employees, and now we’ve filled up every space in our office and there are still more employees joining us soon! However, with a company growing as fast as ours, we knew it would be crazy (or at least we were warned)!

At the beginning of the week, we received a visit from one of Crossover’s partners who is soon to be employed at Crossover. (Little teaser details: he used to work around F-18s and he currently coaches a semi-pro football team. Stay tuned for more details about our soon-to-be new employee!)  Even though he only spent a day with us, he emailed Stephanie, our CEO, with nicknames for all of us based on our personalities. It was funny how he accurately described our personalities even though he was only here for a short time.

Yesterday, Sarah, one of our designers, received a surprise visit from her fiancé. He walked in carrying a bouquet of summer wildflowers that looked professionally arranged. But no, he had actually gotten up early to pick the flowers from the garden and arrange them himself. Sarah was beaming for the rest of the day.

As of late, Kate, Sarah, and I discovered how much we like natural lighting. We have four big windows in our office, so we keep the lights off all day unless it’s absolutely thunderstorm pitch black outside. Sunlight is so much prettier and calming compared to the harsh fluorescent lights. (And as an extra bonus, we’re cutting down the electricity bills.)

Since today is my last day as a summer intern at Crossover, Stephanie arranged a surprise lunch with sub sandwiches, chips, cheesy dip, and homemade ice cream cake (Sarah’s family recipe). So, that was fun.

I am going to miss working at Crossover on a day-to-day basis. It’s the little things that make a job meaningful. I’ve learned so much being here, things such as:

– “Rockstar” is an amazing word and some of the highest praise you can give a person
– Just because it’s not really funny doesn’t mean you can’t laugh about it
– Coffee and sticky notes are great ways to encourage others
– Mac computers make crunchy sounds when you delete items from your trash can. It makes me happy.
– Mac computers have icons that bounce when they want attention (and it annoys me so much that I must immediately stop and squash the icon)
– There are a million social media sites and I am convinced they spontaneously generate because I keep hearing about new sites
– If it’s electronic, it will break
– Sometimes your best work is produced when you have to use pen and paper because the computer is sulking and refuses to unfreeze
– CEOs and co-workers can become your friends
– Sticky notes are some of the best inventions ever
– Filling up a notebook with press releases and other stories you’ve written is pretty fun
– Dreams aren’t so impossible

Probably the reason why I liked working for Crossover so much is because 1) the people here have become friends, and 2) they haven’t forgotten how to dream. One of Crossover’s goals is that the company feel like family — and it does. We all work really well together and we know that we can approach even the executives whenever we need something. Secondly, especially with the economy now, many of the things Crossover wants to do seem absolutely crazy. Yet, Crossover is growing beyond what many people thought was possible. Yes, pursuing dreams is never “safe,” but it’s an adventure and we’re going to fly because that’s where God is leading us.

–Ashley High is a PR Intern at Crossover Graphics (www.crossovergraphics.com)

It’s summer and fresh vegetables abound. But as much I as love vegetables, when your significant other or mother serves them with every meal, it can get old. You’ve resorted to smashing your peas under your plate, flushing your brussel sprouts down the toilet, or slipping your cauliflower into the trash can upstairs. But have you tried leaving your zucchini on your neighbor’s porch?

In fact, leaving zucchini on your neighbor’s porch was such a hit that it became a holiday that is observed on August 8th. In order to celebrate this holiday, those of us at Crossover Graphics decided to put a spin on leaving zucchini on our neighbor’s porches. And what could be a better way to do this than to give you a chance to win some chocolate zucchini bread? It tastes like chocolate cake, only better.

We hope you have a happy Leave-a-Zucchini-on-Your-Neighbor’s-Porch-Day!

Entering the Contest – Twitter Users

1. Follow @crossover09 on Twitter

2. Tweet this:

I am celebrating Leave a Zucchini on Your Neighbor’s Porch Day by entering the @crossover09 contest to win food http://bit.ly/tzucchiniday

3. Two randomly-selected winners (one from Twitter and one from Facebook) will receive:

–A loaf of yummy chocolate zucchini bread. It’ll pretty much be amazing.
–The satisfaction of winning and a good reason to do a victory dance

Remember to follow @crossover09 on Twitter once you’ve tweeted the message so we can direct message you to get your information.  Otherwise we will have to eat your prize – our office has a lot of girls and we like chocolate.

The contest begins immediately and ends Saturday, August 8th, 2009 at 11:59:59 PM, Central Time (US).

If you have any other questions about the contest, email us at socialnetworking@crossovergraphics.com

FAQs:

Q: Can I tweet more than once?
A: Sorry, no.

Q: Can I enter if I don’t use Twitter?
A: You can spend a few minutes creating a Twitter account, and then following to the instructions at the top of this post. (Or you can enter via your Facebook account. See the instructions here.)

Q: Can I enter with both my Facebook and Twitter accounts?
A: Yes, you can. You can only win with one account but your chances of winning increases when you enter at both places.

Q: How will I know if I win?
A: If you have been randomly picked as the winner, we’ll send you a direct message via Twitter.  Make sure you’ve followed @crossover09 so we can message you.
Winners will be announced by noon (Central Time) on Monday, August 10th.

I was reading a novel recently and did the same thing…and for the entirety of the book (all 1,386 pages of it) I was annoyed because I knew one of my favorite characters was going to die. It wasn’t a main character, but it was a character I could relate to. Silly authors.

However, I think there’s something in everyone that wants to know the end of the story right away. We want to know that in the end, it’s going to work out, that everything is going to be okay. Or should the end be tragic, we need time to prepare for the inevitable or we cling to a desperate hope that there is a sequel where it somehow turns out all right.

With books (and movies), we can read the last chapter first, watch the last scene first, but not so with life. Even the next moment could be fraught with peril, or filled with overwhelming joy. And even though most “next moments” are just ordinary, life changes; time moves on.

Yet, we can have hope because no matter what matters, this life is only the beginning of our story. Sometimes the prince kills the dragon and lives happily ever after with Sleeping Beauty, but sometimes, Cinderella spends her entire life alone, sweeping up the ashes. Either way, these scenes are just the beginning of the story.

Here’s a portion of my favorite parts from the end of The Book where the King talks about “ever after”:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new ” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
–Revelation 21:3-6

And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed.
–Revelation 21:23-26

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
–Revelation 22:1-2

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come ” And let the one who hears say, “Come ” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
–Revelation 22:17

–Ashley High is a PR Intern at Crossover Graphics (www.crossovergraphics.com)

(All Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible)