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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.

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Squirrels and Business

What can a squirrel teach you about running a business?

I’m thinking about squirrels this morning.

Earlier this summer I set out a bird feeder at our new home. Peeking out the window, I watched with anticipation for all those beautiful song birds common to backyards: chickadees, cardinals, gold finches, red poles and more. Instead, I got squirrels. Big, fat hairy grey squirrels.

My blood pressure would rise every time I saw those little furry creatures on my feeder. Freeloaders! Party wreckers! “ARGH!!,” I’d yell. I’d bang on the window. I’d run outside to shoo them away.

Finally, I took the feeder down. It just wasn’t worth the stress—bird watching is supposed to be a peaceful pastime.

But I missed the birds. And the snow came and made food less plentiful. I decided to try again.

I trekked out to Hugo Feed Mill  & Hardware—a veritable bird feeder’s mecca—and met a fella in flannel and suspenders who knew his birds, and better yet, squirrels. After filling our cart with bird seed and suet, I quizzed him about squirrel-proofing our feeders.

“Well, you can buy these fancy domes to keep them off, but I wouldn’t bother,” the squirrel sage replied. “Just buy a 50 lb bag of feed corn and scatter it around the yard. The squirrels love rooting around in the snow for it.”

Feed the squirrels? Really? Reluctantly, I took his advice.

That afternoon, I filled the feeders and hung them from the oak tree out back, and scattered the corn around the base of the tree. To my delight, the birds came! All kinds of ‘em. Pretty soon I was watching a community of hungry little feathered guys and gals eating enthusiastically from the feeders.

And then came the squirrels.

The first squirrel wound his way down the trunk of the tree and stopped to glance at the feeders. I held my breath. “Here we go,” I thought. But then it continued down to the base of the tree, where it spotted the corn. It picked up a kernel, plopped back on its hind legs, poofy tail rising behind him like a feather boa, and proceeded to nibble at it with its tiny hands. It was actually…cute.

It’s been days and I still haven’t seen a squirrel on the feeders. The birds are happy. The squirrels are happy. I’m happy.

So this has got me thinking…what’s the lesson here in business?

Imagine the song birds are your potential clients, and the squirrels are your competitors. Now imagine you reach out to your competitors, offering advice and resources to help them thrive. Your competitors learn new ways to reach out and service their own clients, you benefit from an enriched  network of people you can go to for questions and pass referrals, and you’ve established a feel-good vibe for your company.

So, help your competitors = get clients AND good karma.

Or, feed the squirrels and get the song birds.

Praising Plain English

The Brits have taken it upon themselves to police the world’s English communications, issuing praise to citizens who speak clearly and simply, and critique for incomprehensible offenders.

They call themselves the Plain English Campaign, campaigining since 1979 “against gobbledygook, jargon and misleading public information.” With 12,000 members in 80 countries, it appears that they’re addressing a need.

The Campaign’s awards include the coveted “Plain English Awards” and the infamous “Golden Bull” and “Foot in Mouth” awards.

A standout in this year’s Golden Bull award includes this perplexing entry from the Department of Health (try reading it out loud!)

Primary secondary and tertiary prevention.
Primary prevention includes health promotion and requires action on the determinants of health to prevent disease occurring. It has been described as refocusing upstream to stop people falling in the waters of disease.

Plain English Awards recognize all aspects of communication, including writing and graphic design. For this year’s winners, visit http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/awards/plain-english-awards.html.

After suffering through hours and hours of pretentious and needlessly isoteric Neuroscience journal articles as a grad student, I’m happy to see there are people out there who value clear communication. Contrary to the notion that “plain” and “simple” means “dumbing it down,” ideas conveyed in simple terms are likely to be repeated—and repeated accurately—from one person to the next, increasing their power to influence.

So to the Brits I say “Cheerio,” good job! We’ll do our best to avoid the “Bull” in our business communications.

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December 2009 >the mixer is out!

Mix Creative has a monthly e-newsletter titled “> the mixer,” filled with marketing tips, news from Mix Creative, samples of our work, and testimonials from our clients. You have a couple of options to catch up with >the mixer: sign up on our website, or view our e-newsletter archives right here on our WordPress blog.

Not sure if you’re ready to commit? Take a look at this month’s >the mixer, featuring information about our new capabilities, the Minnesota Writers Hall of Fame Website, the Twin Cities Women’s Choir Illuminations CD, and more.

We just keep getting better!

Taking our own advice, we’re going to take a moment this month to trumpet some capabilities we’ve added in the last year:

Even cooler website capabilities.
Our amazing clients inspire us to add new functions to our website designs with every project. This year we’ve become quite comfortable setting up database-driven websites that clients can easily update themselves. We’ve integrated custom-designed WordPress blogs onto client’s urls, created secure log-ins and registrations, programmed an online shopping cart, added an e-newsletter sign-up box, linked social media sites to the website, created blog-fed rss updates to web pages, and much more. Talk to us about your custom web project!

Social media marketing strategy.
We love the potential of social media for getting the word out about a new company—it’s cheap, viral, and effective! We’ve helped to train our clients on which social media outlets to use, what type of content to provide, and how often to make updates. We’ve created custom icons to present a branded identity across social media outlets, and have customized the design of blog and Twitter pages. We’ve even ghost-tweeted for our clients so they can focus on running their business.

Creating effective, easy-to-use e-newsletter campaigns.
We’ve become somewhat of a specialist in providing marketing insight, design, and training for creating effective e-newsletter campaigns, even co-hosting several seminars and webinars on the topic! Our newest product is an e-newsletter with a custom design that has a bullet-proof online interface for adding content and images, adding contacts and reviewing campaign effectiveness.

Package design.
We took our design to the third dimension this year, creating the package design for a line of pet products, coasters, photo keepsakes, and a music CD. We look forward to more package design projects in the coming year…we love 3D!

Thank you to all of our clients who pushed us to new levels this year. We love mastering new skills that provide you with even more options to market your business.

Signs of recovery in tv advertising

The Star Tribune (via the Los Angelos Times) reports that there’s a resurgence in traditional television advertising, as ad agnecies reportedly return to what they know best in these challenging times. Companies fueling the return include retailers hoping to increase holiday sales, companies promoting new products or technology, and even financial investors.

Not all is honky-dorey, though. Online advertising appears to be making a dive as of late as advertisers seem to be becoming weary of the medium. Whether this is a blip or trend, though, has yet to be determined.

For more information, see the full article here.

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