Reflecting the Designer

3 Shows That Help You Brand Yourself

Guest Author — Fri, 03 May 2013 06:25:16 +0000

With all the reality TV polluting the airwaves, finding something that could be useful to our professional lives is like searching through a figurative landfill looking for a piece of buried treasure. Afterall, according to www.direct.tv, 88 percent of Americans have two or more TVs in their house, so these networks know we’re glued to them at all times. That means the focus on entertainment is way up, and education is way down.

But through the landfill, there are reality programs out there that we can bank on — shows that we can take notes on how to brand ourselves as successful women and move up on the corporate ladder, whether it be as the employee or the employer.

‘Shark Tank’ Teaches Presentation Skills (ABC)

The show that lets entrepreneurs, both young and old, pitch their businesses, inventions and ideas to some of country’s most powerful celebrity investors, that include Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, is one of the hottest reality pieces on TV. You get the entertainment factor in watching these investors pick the participants brains and intensely negotiate deals to own a piece of the new project before them. And we get priceless insight on what it takes to promote your brand, but more importantly, the person who stands behind it — you.

Cuban and company have a keen sense of people, given their backgrounds, and can pick apart a person’s demeanor and passion for their project even faster than the project itself. “Shark Tank” teaches us examples of what people do well when presenting to investors, but more importantly, what they do wrong. The mistakes made by both men and women on the show are telling lessons to apply when promoting your own business to potential investors, even on a much smaller scale.

‘The Pitch’ Teaches You to Know Your Audience (AMC)

A reality show created to complement the ever-successful advertising drama “Mad Men,” “The Pitch” follows a group of advertising agencies as they compete for campaigns from large corporations like Waste Management and Subway. The size, locations and business styles of each firm show as they make their best attempt at presenting the perfect advertising campaign for each company.

The takeaway for “The Pitch” is to know the people you’re talking to. In an early episode, each firm presented a pitch for Subway’s new breakfast sandwiches that tried to match the inspiration of Apple’s famous “1984″ Super Bowl commercial. In response, the Subway marketing manager reminded the firms they just wanted a commercial that people would see and make them hungry. Subway eventually hired one of the firms to continue with the campaign, but the gaffe exposed all involved with the inability to know and understand the customer’s goals.

‘The Job’ Teaches Humility (CBS)

Though it’s canceled, you can watch episodes of “The Job” on CBS.com. “The Job” takes a crew of mid-level talents seeking employment to pit against each other for the chance to work for major companies — the catch is that the positions are very mid-level and lack the glamor of other career-reality shows.

Some criticized the show for exposing those who struggle during the current recession, but I see it another way — “The Job” isn’t meant to remind of us harsh times going on in the U.S. but to motivate us to drop our pride and egos to do what’s necessary to be successful.

About the Author

Jessica Gregory
As a project manager, Jessica is a strong supporter of software programs that streamline business operations. She is also a fan of cloud computing solutions.

Finding Design Inspiration in Unlikely Places

Guest Author — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 02:58:29 +0000

For web designers, a lot of what inspires us is from the on-line world. We look to other web sites and other web designers. We remember what we learned when we were studying graphic design and web design but the only way to create truly unique visions is to look elsewhere for inspiration. Sometimes stepping away from your computer is the best way to get inspired. Here are ten unlikely places to find inspiration.

1) Chinati Foundation

An art space in Marfa, TX that was created by Donald Judd to house permanent installations. The photo above displays his installation of metal boxes. This is especially inspiring for a web designer because of the way the boxes are placed in the space and the way Judd uses negative space. The building and installation work together for overall effect and in web design it is important to consider how every object on the site works together for overall effect. Sometimes it is harder to use your space wisely and not clutter it.

2) Cinque Terre

The color scheme and the way the buildings fit perfectly in to the side of this island on the coast of Italy can be very inspiring for web designers. The way the colors pop up makes me want to scroll across the buildings and have them pop up as you scroll across. Pictures inspire people in different ways but exploring what is out there is the best way to find that inspiration inside yourself and this picture certainly inspires something in me.

3) Small Homes in Tokyo

Due to lack of space for new development in Tokyo, homes have been built using minimal space. They are stacked; one room on top of the other and everything in the home must have a purpose. This is inspiring because in design it is important to remember not to over design. Using a minimalist vision is important because over saturating a website design can take away from the aesthetic and detract from the message your client wants to get across.

4) Baseball Stadiums

The layout of a baseball stadium, especially in relation to the city around it can be extremely inspiring for design. The curve of the stadium forced everything to be focused around the baseball diamond. In design, though there are several items the viewer has the option to focus on, there is a central focus you want the viewer to have. It may be the company logo, or the company blog. The way the stadium is set up often gives me ideas on how to focus the viewer’s attention to a central point.

5) Early Disney Cartoons

There is an ease and simplicity to early Disney cartoons that is inspiring to recreate in web design. Having movement within the site gives it an interactive feel. Looking at the complex computer graphics of moves such as “Avatar” can certainly be inspiring, but watching the old school Disney cartoons can give a better idea of what you can do. Your sites do not have to be complicated but they do have to engage the viewer.

For more design tips and tricks visit www.viastudio.com.

About the Author

Ilyse Kaplan is a blogger for www.clearsightstudio.com and a web design/SEO/Social Media expert. She loves to blog about relevant design topics and give designers insight on how to use SEO to their advantage to gain clients and self promote.

Are You Ignoring the Social Part Of Social Sharing?

Guest Author — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:47:45 +0000

Social sharing is one of the big online marketing buzzwords currently making waves. Business owners and website managers are dedicating significant amounts of time to their social media profiles, carefully tweaking content to optimize it to the various sites. However, if you’re spending too many hours analyzing your social media traffic and content sharing on social media sites, you may be in danger of losing sight of the big picture.

Social Sharing is More than Social Media
An October 2012 article from the Atlantic sheds some light on the phenomenon of social sharing and the impact of social networking sites. It’s relatively easy to track referral data from search engines and different social media sites to see how each area compares to the other. However, what about those visits for which no referral data exists?
The Atlantic article looked at these visits, taking away those that were for the homepage of the site and looking at those which were traffic to an actual article. They believe that these visits are those which come from an often overlooked aspect of social sharing — sharing links through IMs, email programs and other non-social networking methods. They called these shares ‘direct social’, or ‘dark social’.

Adding in this data to their analysis of social sharing they found that these shares made up 56.5% of the social sharing of their articles, with conventional social media like Facebook, Twitter and others making up the rest. They asked their website analytics provider, Chartbeat, to see if these proportions held true across other sites. What they found was that over the sites they studied, direct social made up almost 70% of social media shares, and almost 18% of total referral traffic.

What This Means for Content Generation
This data has important implications for how we view social sharing. Firstly, you may be severely underestimating how important sharing is in driving traffic to your site. Focusing on sharable content could be much more important than you realize, so if your strategy focuses mainly on SEO you could be missing a trick.
Secondly, your efforts to optimize your work for social sharing may not be as effective as you think. If you’re deciding what is and is not good content based on referrals and sharing from Facebook or Twitter, you’re not actually targeting what may be the majority of your social shares.

The takeaway message here, whether you run a site for a Lancaster Social Security lawyer or a large e-commerce store, is that site-specific optimization and push on social media sites is only one element of what’s needed to truly capitalize on social sharing. What’s the other part? It’s the creation of quality content that real people will want to read and share with their personal contacts, through all the avenues available to them.

About the Author

Michelle currently works for a company that specializes in online marketing and web design pricing. She has a passion for the Internet, specifically social media and blogging. She loves how social media connects people across the globe, and appreciates that blogging gives her the opportunity to voice her thoughts and share advice with an unlimited audience.

How To Create a Website With WordPress

Guest Author — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:43:59 +0000

If you need to make a quick and simple website for internet marketing purposes, using WordPress is a great option. WordPress is traditionally for creating blogs, but with their easy layout designs and optional plug-ins, it can simply be converted to a website in a matter of minutes. Best of all, this is easy for anyone to do, even someone without web building knowledge.

Step 1: Get Web Hosting

You first need to sign up for a web hosting service, which you can choose based on recommendations. There are literally hundreds of web hosting services available. Try to find one that is compatible with WordPress, as it will make the process much easier. Sign up for the hosting service, purchase a domain name for your new website, and install the WordPress software in your web hosting account.

Step 2: Install WordPress

Aside from installing WordPress in your hosting account and linking the two, you’ll also want to install it on your computer. This is very easy to do by following the on-screen instructions you see when go to the WordPress website.

Step 3: Create your WordPress Website

Now that the main installation is finished, you can create your website. When you installed WordPress through your web hosting account, they sent a link that allows you to log in to your site. Log in now and choose a simple layout design. Any layout will do, as they are all customizable.
Once you have chosen a theme for your website, customize it by changing the text or background colors and arranging the layout to your desire. This is simple to do by following the instructions on WordPress. They will guide you through the entire process.

Step 4: Add Pages and Links

The rest is up to you, depending on the type of website you’re creating. You don’t need to add multiple pages if it’s something simple like a one-page sales copy site for internet marketing. However, you do have the option of adding pages that link from the sidebar. You can also add an in-site blog with updated posts for your visitors. Be sure to make your homepage a static page so that visitors who click on your domain will go to the homepage instead of your recent blog posts. You can do this by changing the settings of your WordPress site.

With WordPress, it’s surprisingly quick and simple to set up a website, whether for selling your child pool fence equipment, sharing your work as a poet, or using as an affiliate marketing tool. Just follow these four steps and your website will be up and running in no time.

About the Author

Why a Reliable Web Host is Crucial for a Small Business

Guest Author — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 01:34:50 +0000

When it comes to your small business’s website, nothing should stand in the way of reliability: You want website uptime, not downtime; you want online sales, not missed opportunities; you want customer support, not user frustration.

Knowing your site-reliability factors is important for many small businesses. As you look into finding a Web-hosting provider, you’ll want to consider several aspects that are crucial to the operation and efficiency of your site. Here are some questions to ask about finding great reliability, support and ecommerce from a Web-hosting company.

What’s Expected of My Web-hosting Provider?

Your website is your online business card; it’s an extension of your brand, and needs to be up and running 24-7. You want a good Web host that has employees working on your behalf with email, chat, forum and phone. A support staff needs to be knowledgeable and helpful so that problems get solved quickly by professionals who care about a great Web experience.
How reliable should the provider be?

At minimum, your host should be up-and-running 99 percent of the time; the higher that number is, the better. If your Web-hosting firm doesn’t meet agreed-upon minimum standards, look for refunds or a discount. A written guarantee helps your servers stay running — uptime, site speed, page load times and more are important.

Are Unlimited Data Transfer and Disk Space Necessary?

Many plans offer an unlimited amount of data transfers and disk space, but there’s usually a limit hidden in the contract. Be sure to research any limits before you sign up. Additionally, when you’re just starting out, or if your company is small, unlimited services are unnecessary. Don’t be swayed into purchasing a plan that is bigger than what you need; you can always upgrade later. VPS hosting from myhosting.com is an example of a provider that let’s you customize the amount of data used on your website. These types of Web hosts make it easier to allocate resources to the right places to ensure efficiency.

Are the Servers Secure?

Getting your website hacked is a small business owner’s worst nightmare. Verify your Web host’s security claims and make sure that they have backup servers to prevent the possibility of being hacked. Disruption in service can kill any momentum your small business might have.

Do You Really Need FTP, PHP and Other Scripts?

Yes, a good host will allow you to install FTP, PHP, SSI, Perl, SSH, MySQL, crontabs and telnet scripts. Some may require you to get permission before installation. Having these scripts allows your developer to do things such as customizing error pages, maintain databases and keep a blog on your site.

Any Other Extras I Should Know?

If you plan to sell products or services, make sure you get a SSL license and shopping cart in order to provide a secure shopping environment for customers. Finally, the ability to have email, auto-responders and mail forwarding is important.

About the Author

Sara Bird is a computer programmer who is working on her PhD in robotics. Sara loves talking about Higgs Boson, reading New Scientist and is getting tired of her thesis but glad that it’s nearly finished.

Email Marketing Tips for WordPress

Guest Author — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 04:11:29 +0000

You may not think of a blog or an email marketing campaign as the same genus of animal, but WordPress (the CMS software that builds websites) and email marketing actually do go together perfectly quite well. In fact, some website owners have found that using WordPress and special email plugins eliminate the need to invest in expensive email marketing software. You may or may not feel the same way, depending on what your needs are.

Usually, when someone embarks upon an email campaign they are looking for four primary objectives:

Autoresponding software that can send messages automatically
Scheduling software that can send emails at precise times
Database storage, which holds email address lists and multiple messages
Customizable campaigns for easy segmentation

Popular WP Email Marketing Plugins

You may want to check with your hosting company to make sure you don’t already have free autoresponder software ready to use. If not, then think about some of these exciting WordPress plugins that can make email management easy and incorporate well with many different Premium WordPress themes .

Mailpress: Mailpress offers a newsletter plugin with many features and multiple configurations. This is also a free plugin with numerous complexities to customize. It may scare some people away because of the huge number of options!

Wysija: Wysija, a play on the term WYSIWYG offers a drag and drop interface and lets users create newsletters for mobile devices and for websites. It also has 20 different themes to choose from.

WP AutoResponder: This plugin lets you create unlimited newsletter lists, as well as schedule times for send-outs. You can also add subscription forms to your side bar. This is a major feature, as it will all but eliminate the need to pay services like Feedburner. You can also place the form anywhere on your site for marketing purposes.

ALO Easymail: This plugin lets you send out newsletters in multiple languages, which is important for communicating with leads overseas.

WP Email: This plugin lets users actually email your latest blog stories. All it takes is a single line of code inserted into the blog theme; then, you can customize the look and feel of the email window. There is also an email log and even a feature for the “most emailed post” within the sidebar.

WordPress Plugins vs. Graphical Emailing Software

Of course, there is only so much WordPress plugins made for emailing can do for you, especially when compared to paid, company-tailored software like Constant Contact. Constant Contact not only makes scheduling and writing easy, but also offers graphics and templates for superior design. Of course, Constant Contact is far from free—something you can say about many of the WP plugins.

When it comes to newsletters, remember to write with newsletter format in mind. There are actually two types of email letters to use, depending what market you are in. The most common email marketing message is the short department type email, which uses many short articles and graphics and coupons to keep attention. Then, on the other hand, you have the more in depth newsletter type of email that discusses a specific topic.

Both newsletters must contain valuable information, though the former has more leeway to report fun features, interactive features and lists. The newsletter format requires a personal, long-article approach, usually discussing a specific issue. Remember to construct email newsletters with an outstanding headline, a great introductory paragraph, and concise but personal writing throughout, building up to a powerful call to action.

The good news is that you can use all of these features, many of which are free, in order to boost traffic and generate higher sales conversions using email marketing. Why not see what exciting plugins WordPress users have created for us?

About author

Olga Ionel is a creative writer at ThemeFuse.com – a top provider of premium WordPress themes. She is passionate about studying online marketing industry and sharing informative tips.

Where Is Your Traffic Going?

Guest Author — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:02:39 +0000

Does your business that’s been around for a while need a boost? Accept Einstein’s theory of insanity and realize that if you keep doing the same thing, you’re not going to get different results. Maybe your advertising, social media, or blogging is stale (or non-existent). There’s an entire (virtual) world out there and you’re probably missing out on some great markets.

You may be wondering how you can connect with these new customers. The best way to know where you’re lacking is to work with a web developer pro. Online marketing can often be added to web design pricing. However, if it’s not in the budget, it’s time to take things into your own hands.

Tighten Your Advertising Efforts
If your online advertising isn’t getting the job done or you haven’t ventured into that arena yet, get acquainted with Google AdSense. This simple program is very effective and easy to use. You can create SEO-centric ads and set a daily budget with no minimum. You can also hyper-target your ads if you’re a local business and modify your ad whenever you like at no extra cost.

Consider what key words your potential customers are searching. You know they’re Googling things daily, so why shouldn’t your ad pop up when that happens? If you’re a business without a Google ad, you’re missing out on a prime opportunity.

Feeling Social Tonight?
Social media isn’t for every business, but it can help many succeed. You need to know which sites your audience is on and which just aren’t working out. A business that serves teens needs to be on Twitter. A craft store must regularly post pictures on Pinterest.

Map out a plan to beef up your social media presence and realize it’s a vital part of business. Develop a voice for social media and commit to at least one post, tweet, or image upload every single business day. Engage with your audience, always respond to messages immediately, and have your social media presence mimic your real business.

Everyone’s a Blogger
If your audience is into reading blogs or checking out video blogs, it’s time to get into that field. It’s best to hire a professional blogger if that’s in the budget. The best blogs include non-spammy SEO features to help improve your SEO rankings at the same time. However, this isn’t an absolute must if you’re tackling this endeavor yourself.

The most important advice to follow with your blog is to blog at least once a week and on topics that are truly interesting. Tips, gossip, and how-to posts are all great for blogs. Make sure your blog is clearly linked to your website and social media presence. Encourage responses from your readers and get unbiased feedback about your writing and topics to help hone your angle.

About the Author

Balancing Between SEO and Web Design for a Better Website

Guest Author — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 09:50:18 +0000

There have been lots of debates on whether or not a website that is well-optimized can be well-designed as well. How would a website that has factors such as text content, linking and keyword usage working in its favor look like? There is no way to give a precise answer to this question. It is important for you to look at some examples in order to judge the possibilities. The following are some examples of websites that demonstrate the combination of the aforesaid factors that include website designing as well.

Example A
Dry Eye Doctor (good SEO but poor design)

This a website designed by a former SEO consulting company by the name of Traffic Power. Like many other websites designed by Traffic Power, http://www.dryeyedoctor.com/ was a result of heavy SEO and comparatively light designs. Time has never answered in favor of websites that focused only on SEO. Websites that overlooked the application of designing methods tasted failure without the slightest delay. The fact that Traffic Power has lost its existence doesn’t present itself as a surprise. All that you’ll come to know about them upon a quick Google search is a bunch of faulty and equally risky SEO strategies and practices that caused their failure.

Example B
Eccentris (awesome design but poor SEO)

It is very difficult to maintain a good balance between SEO and website design. There are only a few websites that have tasted success in this regard. The website for Eccentris http://www.eccentris.com/splash.htm has almost $100,000 worth of design on it. Such huge expenditures on designs tell about its huge capability to visually engage someone. On the contrary, it will be very difficult for you to spot the role of optimization in the website.

It’s not that websites lacking in SEO can’t work well enough. As a matter of fact, most of that is dependent on the web marketing goals of the website in question. However, a majority of the existing websites has always preferred to give web traffic and designs an equal priority.

It goes without saying that websites that lay huge emphasis on optimization are likely to suffer in the area of designs. A website that is not well-designed is unlikely to serve its actual purpose irrespective of the amount of traffic that flows into it. This is because of the fact that the usability, navigation and credibility of the website are going to suffer as a whole. Websites with the sole purpose of selling products won’t be able to generate expected revenues due to the lack of attractive designs necessary to attract the attention of visitors.

Example C
Turbo Photo (good design and good SEO)

If you want to have a look at a website that has successfully maintained a balance between SEO and web design, Turbo Photo’s http://www.turbophoto.com is all yours.

This website features a sea of links based on keywords right on the homepage. It is also consistent about the number of featured keywords on the subsequent pages as part of applications of SEO. Turbo Photo has managed to be equally careful in terms of designs. It shows that the designers have been very careful in considering the various principles and theories of design during the creation of the website. They have made sure the designs used on Turbo Photo are as practical and purposeful as they are pleasant to the eyes.

Ensuring Optimum Balance

It is only through simultaneous planning that accuracy and balance can be achieved when it comes to the presence of designs and application of SEO in a website. The Internet is a huge market full of enormous competition. As a website owner, you’ll need to be focused on both the flow of traffic and the visual presentation of the website. Not maintaining a healthy balance between SEO and web design will limit the chances of success for the website. It is of great importance that you do a detailed study on the various factors involved in a website’s success.

About the Author

Angelina Brown is a professional content writer and guest blogger. She loves to contribute different kind of write ups to websites and blogs so that she can help people who are seeking information. She has written various articles for http://www.all360.net/ on web-designing, online marketing, recent technologies, etc.

How to Choose a Color Scheme for Your Blog

Guest Author — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 23:47:51 +0000

You’ve done the hard work: you’ve chosen a blog theme, and perhaps you’ve written a post or two. You’re trying to put together a design to appeal to readers, but you’re clueless about finding a color scheme. You don’t want to end up creating a blog that looks like it’s from the nineties era of glitter graphics and clashing colors, but you aren’t experienced with web design and can’t figure out where to go from here.

Luckily for you, there are plenty of options when it comes to finding the best color scheme for your blog to appeal to readers while looking unique. Here are some ideas if you’re looking for a new blog color scheme.

1. Decide on Some Colors that Fit your Theme
This step is optional, but it’s important for certain kinds of blogs. If you’re running a blog on natural wellness, eco-friendly products, or organic beauty products, for instance, you’re probably going to want softer colors like greens and blues. If your blog revolves around jewelry found on the seashore, what sort of palette would you find at the ocean? (Tans, blues, and browns are a nice place to start.)

Try not to get too fixated on any one color, but pick out a few colors you’d like to use if they tie into your blog theme. Even if you know you want gentle colors for a sophisticated look, contrasting and easy-to-read colors because your reading audience will be older, or bright jewel tones for a youthful fashion blog, that’s a great start.

2. Check Color Palette Sites
Sites like Adobe Kuler, COLOURlovers, and ColorCombos all cater to people in your shoes who are looking for some great color schemes that will go together. They’re put together by people who enjoy the process of playing around with palettes and seeing what comes out.

COLOURlovers, for example, is a social networking site and color palette finder all in one, and Adobe Kuler has established a similar presence. People can submit palettes, and others can vote on them, favorite them, and comment on how that palette inspires them. This is a great way to find color schemes that remind people of certain emotions, even if you don’t know why.

3. Choose your Main Colors
Once you have found a palette that works for you, figure out what your main colors will be for your blog background and text. These will be very important, and should contrast nicely. Some people choose light text on a dark background, but this can strain some people’s eyes. If you’re unsure, default to dark-colored text on a light background, like a standard printed page. Other colors can be used to highlight links, as table borders, or in the header and page background.

Experiment a bit on your blog before you settle on a finished color scheme. You might discover that one color you thought was perfect for heading text turns out to stand out too much, but can be incorporated into a header. It’s a good idea to experiment on a test site if your blog is already live so you don’t create chaos when people try to read your blog and encounter jarring colors from a half-designed site.

Coming up with a great color scheme for your blog design is much easier than you think. Even if you’re clueless about design and would rather leave that to the Photoshop experts, you can find a palette that people love and incorporate it into your blog design to make it visually appealing, yet unique.

About the Author

Charles Dearing is the author of WhoIsHostingThis.com – a review site and webmaster tool that provides information about all popular webhosts as well as lets you know what web hosting company any site is currently hosted with.

Don’t Stop Marketing

Guest Author — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:23:22 +0000

“Go ahead. Cut your marketing budget when things get tough. I get it. That’s like saying, ‘I’ll throw some logs on that fire when it warms up in here’.”

For well-positioned companies, an economic recession should not prompt marketing cutbacks, but rather it should spur an aggressive increase in marketing spending to achieve superior business performance according to research authored by Gary Lilien and Arvind Rangaswamy of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business. From 1980-1985, McGraw-Hill Research analyzed the marketing spending of 600 companies. At the conclusion of the study, McGraw-Hill concluded that those firms that maintained or increased their advertising during the recession of 1981, experienced an average sales growth of 275% over the next five years. But those who cut their advertising saw sales growth over the next five years of just 19%.

Athletes often mount attacks in times of stress: strong runners and bicycle racers increase their pace on hills or under other challenging conditions. Similarly, marketing during slow times is like ramping up athletically on tough hills. You become stronger and build momentum. Here are some ideas for marketing during a less-than-desired economy.

Try to reactivate lost accounts. Contact past clients with a special offer. Reason: They already know you and your company!
Provide superior service to current customers. Holding on to current customers is even more important during times like these, so be sure they know they are getting their money’s worth from your service. Giving a little extra can mean the difference between ho-hum service and dazzling service.
Create a structured referral program and incentivize your current customers to refer friends and neighbors to your company.
Re-evaluate your marketing spending and reallocate dollars from large expenditures into several other efforts like e-mail marketing or postcards.
Get out there! Be a vigilant networker. Join an active networking group and make the most of it!
DON’T STOP MARKETING. Coke, GE and Proctor and Gamble continued marketing through the Great Depression and profited in the long run.

A great quote from marketer Chris Lockhead of Mercury: “Go ahead. Cut your marketing budget when things get tough. I get it. That’s like saying, ‘I’ll throw some logs on that fire when it warms up in here’.”

About the Author

June Van Klaveren is the author of The Edge Up – a customer service book for small and home-based businesses – and is an editorial contributor to PCT Magazine, and several association publications. She is a speaker on association programs on topics of Customer Service, marketing & communications. June is also the owner of Compelling Communications, a company dedicated to helping clients acquire and keep customers.