Welcome to the Mix Creative blog!

WHAT IS MIX CREATIVE? We’re a Twin Cities-based graphic design, marketing and advertising firm. Take a look at our website, www.themixcreative.com, call (612) 226-5717 or email us to learn more about how we can help you with your graphic design, marketing or advertising needs. Want to receive valuable tips for marketing your business? Sign up for The Mixer, our monthly newsletter. Still want more info? Check out our About page.

Thanks for visiting, and feel free to leave your comments—we LOVE feedback!

Oh, one more thing: like what you see? Link to us!

Holiday promotions

Considering sending a holiday promotion? Here are some tips and resources to get the ideas flowing!

Take advantage of holiday specials. Just this week, I’ve received several holiday specials on printing alone. Here’s just a sampling:

• For one more week, you can order 30 custom printed holiday cards for the price of 20 at www.overnightprints.com. Use coupon code: GC1895.
• Create your own hand-made cards, place holders, gift tags and more with rubber stamps and all the trimmings from Paper Source. Receive free shipping on orders over $100 through November 15. Enter code: SHIP100
• Make a photo book of a client’s project! Custom photo books at Shutterfly start from $12.99. Get free shipping on orders of $25 or more until 11/30/09. Enter code: HOLIDAY25

Consider a sending a New Year’s promotion. Companies do a lot of goal-setting and budget planning in the New Year. A well-timed and clever promotion can get attention without getting lost among mounds of holiday cards.

Or, send a Thanksgiving card. A hand written “thank you” goes a long way in creating a memorable impression with clients.

Explore other media. Try creating a fun holiday video or animated e-card to share with your clients.

As with every marketing endeavor, make sure you create a look and feel that speaks to your target audiences and is consistent with your brand standards. Take the time to craft your message and design your piece.

 

Email marketing words to avoid

Tired of getting caught in email Spam filters? Here are some words to avoid when composing your email subject lines:

• amazing
• cancel at any time
• check or money order
• click here
• congratulations
• dear friend
• e-mail marketing
• for only ($)
• free (including toll-free)
• great offer
• guarantee
• increase sales
• order now
• promise you
• risk free
• special promotion
• this is not spam
• to be removed
• unsubscribe
• winner

Also, in your subject line, avoid*:

• avoid excessive punctuation
• don’t use symbols (such as dollar signs or astericks)
• words with ALL CAPS
• using the recipients name in the subject line
• using Re: (unless it really is a response)
• blank subject line
• vague subjects (hey you, check this out, hi!)

*Source: Email Marketing for Dummies, John Arnold

For more information about e-newsletter dos and don’ts, attend our seminar on October 28th, from 11:15-1:30. We’ll be presenting hands-on training for setting up your database and getting started with customizing templates.

Join us Oct 28! eNewsletters:Database & Design Tips

Join us next Wednesday, October 28th; 11:15 AM- 1:30PM

Need help getting started with your eNewsletter design?
Need help with building and compiling your database?

This hands-on class will focus on design & database best practices. In this class you will learn the following:

• Incorporate your brand into the design elements
• Design your eNewsletter optimally
• Compile and build your database

We will look at the different types of templates, the pros and cons of using them and take a look at some examples of design dos & don’ts.

This class is presented by email marketing expert, Katrina Hase of Mix Creative and technology training expert, Rebecca Metz of Modern Inconveniences.

Cost: $45, includes take-home materials

To register, click here

Announcing the Minnesota Writers Hall of Fame!

Mix Creative, a St. Paul, MN multi-disciplinary graphic design firm, announces the launch of the Minnesota Writers Hall of Fame web site, created to recognize Minnesota writers, past and present.

A project of the Minnesota Book Awards, coordinated by the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, Mix Creative was selected as agency of record.  The site was established to recognize writers whose work distills the essence of the state; the people, the land and the spirit of Minnesota.

Katrina Hase, Creative Director of Mix Creative, sought to convey the spirit of the state through color; “Colors of the site represent sky, water and wheat; colors represented not only by the lakes and prairies throughout the state, but also in the palette of buildings standing tall in Minneapolis and St. Paul.”

Minnesota Writers Hall of Fame Website

Mix Creative researched dozens of hall of fame sites, writers’ resources and even the nominees’ works for inspiration. The firm also designed the site’s logo, a mix of elegant san serif and serif type, punctuated with a writer’s quill.

“The site manages to capture the historical aspect while still keeping it fresh and vital,” commented Alayne Hopkins, director of the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library.  “We were quite pleased with the design.  Katrina brought so much to the project and brought it alive.”

Programmer Brian Sutherland provided technical expertise, creating a database-driven website supported by cascading style sheets that allows the site owners to update content themselves, with a simple form.

While the first nominees were selected by a committee and the Minnesota Book Awards, future nominees will be determined from nominations from literature lovers. Site users can register and nominate a writer using a simple online form.

The site is supported with funds from the Minnesota Historical Society’s Sesquicentennial Commission.  Visit the site at:  http://www.mnwritershalloffame.com.

Perspectives Poster Design

Mix Creative created this poster design to promote the upcoming Twin Cities Women’s Choir concert, Perspectives. The concert, which feature singers/songwriters Ann Reed and Brianna Reed will premier a composition for the 140-voice choir that is the compilation of the two performers’ unique perspectives.

In designing this poster, we used profiles of the singers/songwriters overlaid with dynamic, colorful, contrasting circles to represent their unique musical perspectives. The circles also symbolize many parts combining to form a musical whole, as with the women’s voices in the choir. A rich sense of texture mimics the corresponding depth of the musicians’ compositions. The poster maintains a sense of informality with its typography, conveying to the viewer that Perspectives is a dynamic, celebratory concert.

For more about Perspectives and the Twin Cities Women’s Choir 2009-2010 Season (including tickets), visit their site: www.TwinCitiesWomensChoir.org.

The poster was printed by local Saint Paul printer, Printz.com

Mix Creative’s Katrina Hase featured in recent WIN E-Newsletter

Minnesota Women in Networking selected Katrina Hase of Mix Creative to submit a member contributed article in the September 28 edition of the Connect e-newsletter. The article, Planning a Marketing Budget, was distilled from a longer post in the Mix Creative blog from September of 2008.

The WIN Connect E-newsletter reaches over 1,350 women in business in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Click here to see the e-newsletter in its entirety.

Taste Section Poster Retrospective

The Star Tribune’s Taste section celebrates it’s 40th anniversary today with a look back at some of their memorable poster-like section covers. Check them out for yourself: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/62583792.html

Taste's First Cover

Package design pointers

Little Alice from the comic strip Cul-de-Sac (by Richard Thompson) makes some insightful remarks on package design for children in this comic strip. Enjoy!

E-newsletter workshop and networking TOMORROW!

It’s not too late to join us for networking and a how and why guide to E-newsletter marketing. Mix Creative’s Katrina Hase will join Rebecca Metz of Modern Inconveniences for an informal, practical guide to getting started and maximizing marketing potential. Details:

Wednesday, September 23rd; 11:15 AM- 1:30PM

Using eNewsletters Effectively
Focus on what can be accomplished and what is required to implement a successful eNewsletter campaign. We will compare the eNewsletter options and services and explore best practices for database building, content, delivery and marketing integration. You will learn about tools that will help you make this process efficient and effective.

Register HERE

(re)Communicating Your Capabilities

Recently I spoke with a marketing colleague of mine who expressed frustration that a long-time client had been talking to other agencies to develop a new website and e-mail marketing. Having been their agency of record for all of their print marketing and advertising, my colleague expressed to the client his confusion.

“Oh, you can do websites?” was the client’s response.

It seems that in their business interactions, the client had come to think of my colleague as a go-to person for print and advertising. Comfortable in that role, my colleague had neglected to mention his full capabilities, of which websites and email marketing were also strengths.

It’s human nature to categorize the things around us. Gestalt psychologists demonstrated this phenomenon well through visual tests that show how we perceptually organize the world around us. Their results described an overarching principle of pragnänz, which is that the simplest and most stable interpretations of the world around us are favored. Neuroscientists have documented these brain short-cuts even at the cellular level, showing that the branches on brain cells are trimmed away over time to strengthen some brain pathways over others.

The lesson here? If you want your clients to change their perception of your company’s capabilities, you’re going to have to retrain their brains. Here are three simple strategies:

1. Talk to your client about your capabilities. Ok, this one seems like a no-brainer. But think about it, when is the last time you integrated a little advertisement for your other services into a conversation with your client? One strategy: use an example of how you created a solution in similar situation with another client. Expand on the different services you provided.
2. Try an email footer. Communications guru Colleen Wainwright suggested changing up your email footer frequently as a tool for self promotion. Try something like: “Did you know we can create _______ for you? Call us for more information.”
3. Share examples. Shapco Printing in Minneapolis does a great job of communicating their capabilities by sending examples every few months or so of a piece that was printed using their equipment, accompanied by a letter highlighting their capabilities. You can try this too, by sending examples of your work—printed or electronically—to your clients, with a personal note that includes a detail about the project.

Since we’re working against brain chemistry here, it’s a good idea to make communication about your capabilities an ongoing activity. Just think: someday there may be a brain pathway out there dedicated to your business!