An Argument for Escapism

Living in Colorado, I am blessed to have access to some of the most beautiful country and the greatest outdoor recreation opportunities on the planet. This gentle reminder to take advantage of the summer lull to relax and enjoy nature is as much for myself as for you. Let's take a break from 'business talk' this month and address the occasional need to drop the cloak of civilization and clear our heads.

Most of you who only know me professionally, and have no long history reaching back into decades past, don't know that I have spent years of my life 'in the wild'. Whether it be the steaming Florida Everglades, the jungles of the Caribbean, camping in the mountains or roughing it on windswept prairies... I have probably lived five or six years of my life without the niceties of running water, electricity, heat or a ready food supply.

Sometimes those days seem so far away as to be a dream.

We Americans are a driven bunch. We tend to perpetually be in 'achievement mode' - trying to earn more, perform better, work harder and one-up the other guy. While that drive for success has been a critical factor in building one of the greatest and richest nations on the face of the earth, it draws us inexorably away from places, people and activities that inflame our imagination and test our physical limits. In short, our civilized urban existence gets boring!

Cartographers used to label undiscovered places and unknown peoples on maps by simply writing 'There Be Dragons'. How quaint. Now we call any untouched area or primitive culture a 'potential market' or 'eco-tourist destination'. Doesn't have quite the allure of dragons, does it?

We rest easy knowing that no matter where we go in the world the homey familiarity of McDonald's will always be close by. No matter who we encounter we will share brand recognition for Nike and Coca-Cola. Any terrain on this planet we haven't personally explored has come into our homes via television and any tribes we haven't personally met have been introduced to us online.

But it is reassuring to me to know that within 2 hours of just about any metropolitan area on earth there is an escape. You don't have to take a month off and trek through Bhutan to 'turn it off' and rediscover your sacred center.

My call to action for you this month is not to let the summer go by without making a brief escape. It is healthy for the body, liberating for the mind and healing for the soul. Find a place where you can spend one night under the vast expanse of stars, listen to the noises of the night, read a book by a stream, walk along the sea, climb a tree.

Turn off your Blackberry for just a moment and remember that there is something beautiful and primal beyond our get-ahead materialistic rat race. The magical 'something' you find in the wild may just be... YOU!

Developing a Great Print Ad

First and foremost, let me say that I am not a huge fan of print advertising for most clients. Print has definitely lost its effectiveness over the past 2 decades, but there are still situations in which it makes a lot of sense. I disagree with experts who advise clients to play it safe and simply mimic the competition with a twist. Take calculated risks, put in the effort to stand out, and you can reap big rewards.


These 10 tips will help you create an effective print ad on a budget:

1. Decide what you’re selling before you develop the ad.

Are you selling a specific product, a service, or the company as a whole? You need to figure out what makes your offer valuable to the reader. Don’t brag – nobody buys it anymore. Forget ‘we’re the best!’ or ‘the largest selection!’ or ‘the most experienced!’ unless it’s quantifiable or has been touted by a 3rd party. For instance ‘voted best in Chicago 5 years in a row!’ or ‘the highest volume Honda dealer in Colorado’ will get you noticed. Remember that you aren’t really selling the actual company, product or service – you’re selling the primary benefit of what you’re advertising. Tell the potential buyer what’s in it for them if they purchase from you. As an example… DON’T advertise this: ‘Reliable, Trustworthy Financial Planning’ DO advertise this: ‘Our Clients Average a 25% Higher Return on Their Investments after Switching to XXX Financial. You can too.’

2. Come up with a great headline.

The headline you use in a print ad is extremely important. If it isn't intriguing enough to get the reader to pause and peruse your ad, then you won’t sell anything. The headline must grab attention and inspire interest. Have the headline clearly reflect what your ad is about, such as ‘Free Digital Cable for a Year’. In the body of the ad you can offer more details or add whatever conditions you want to attach. Also, headlines do not have to be cute, or rhyme, or use fancy words, but they absolutely must hold the audience’s attention and stop them from moving on.

3. Formulate a concept for your ad design.
Once you know what you are selling and what the headline will be, you are ready to formulate a complete concept. Marketers typically suggest that you examine several competing companies’ ads and do something similar, but with a unique twist. I politely disagree and suggest that you think outside the box and thoughtfully set yourself apart. Don’t create a crazy design just for the sake of being different or freaking people out, because your concept ultimately has to make sense. Consider proven advertising success stories to get you beyond the norm. ‘Got milk’ doesn’t show milk or cows – it shows celebs with milk moustaches. The new Dove ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ broke out of the trend of using professional models and leveraged everyday women to sell millions in product. Be smart about appealing to your demographic, but don’t get stuck in a rut.

4. Write the copy for the ad.

Even as a professional, I find copywriting very tough. Everybody thinks they can do it and in reality most people stink at it – especially when writing for their own business. This area of the process is truly best left to a professional, but if you insist on tackling it yourself here are a few things to consider. First, people don’t really read ad content – they only skim it. Use as few words as possible to get your point across. Second, remember not to talk about how great you are. Just emphasize the value to potential buyers. Third, stay on point. You have already decided what you are selling, so stick to that one thing and don’t verbally meander off into the bushes.

5. The ad should have a call-to-action.
Think of something compelling for your target readers such as ‘act now to receive an additional $10 off’, ‘spaces are limited’, or some sort of pitch that will get the person to actually make the buy immediately. ‘Sale ends Friday’ lets the reader know that after that time they have missed the boat. Avoid generic phrases that are totally overused like ‘act now’, ‘call today’ or ‘while supplies last’ because they have no real sense of urgency and mean nothing to people.

6. Design your graphics and images.

Graphics should support the message, not distract from it, so don't have images, squiggles or dots just to have them. Sometimes a photo can tell the whole ad story, and if that's the case just let the image stand out and have the text back up the graphic rather than the other way around.

7. Put the complete print ad design together.

I cannot stress this enough – USE WHITE SPACE. It can actually be any color, but the point is to leave some space clear of copy or graphics because cluttered ads turns people off and seem too daunting to bother reading. The more white space you have, the more likely people will read your ad and respond. Make sure your headline, graphics, photos and copy all tie in and flow well together. The name of your business or your logo doesn’t need to be enormous either – it’s tacky.

8. Submit your ad.

As a general rule… the bigger the ad the better. When you read a magazine or look at a newspaper do you take the time to actually look at all those tiny ads clumped together on pages with no content? Probably not. I don’t. Your ad should be large enough to get noticed by every reader, and that means a quarter-page ad at the least. I usually recommend to clients that if they do print advertising at all they pony up and do it right! Big ads with good placement are expensive, but they are also more likely to be read and responded to. Placement does matter, by the way, and you should negotiate hard to get premium space on popular pages that aren’t too ad heavy. Contracts with publications can help keep costs down by allowing you to agree to a certain frequency or number of ads in exchange for a discount.

9. Repeat your ad.
You should always run a print ad multiple times. Advertisers expect their doors to be blown off after one publication and print advertising doesn’t work that way. Repetition is the most important factor in getting readers to buy from you. Frequency matters too. You don’t want to run 3 ads a year in a weekly publication because you won’t make a repetitive, strong impact on regular readers. Talk to the publisher about frequency and the right number of repeats for your unique strategy.

10. Evaluate effectiveness and revise your ad.

If you have run an ad 3 or more times and you haven’t gotten a single call there is probably something wrong with the ad or the publication you picked. If buyers start to trickle in after several runs the ad is probably working and will work even better over time. Change your ad out periodically to keep things exciting and make new offers, but keep enough continuity that people recognize your style and placement when they see it.

That’s it! As always, it’s better to hire a professional to help you with marketing if you can, but if you need or want to do it yourself these 10 simple tips will help immensely.

It's not the price that matters... it's the way you print it!

Thanks to Marcia Yudkin, Marketing Expert for this great article! http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm

A price is a price, right? Not really, according to Cornell University researchers, who tested whether restaurant owners would profit most when menu prices were formatted as $20.00,
20.00 or twenty dollars.

To their surprise, the 20.00 format netted the most, with customers spending 8 percent more when menus used numerals to represent prices, minus any dollar signs.

Without the dollar sign or the word "dollars," diners were apparently reminded least that what they were ordering was making them a tiny bit poorer.

Specialists in the field of "menu engineering" have also discovered that menus bring in more revenue when they insert prices at the end of each small paragraph describing the item, rather than all lined up in a column that can be quickly scanned from top to bottom.

Likewise, those who study these things tell us that we tend to perceive $23 to be less than $23.00.

One more finding: When looking at menus, we take prices like $20.00 as indicative of higher quality food than prices like $19.99.

Mutualism in Public Relations

Public Relations is no longer the red-headed step-child of marketing. Who do you believe more? A television ad… or a glowing customer review on the internet, or possibly a news anchor who gives you information in a non-biased format?

Public relations outreach has powerful appeal in a world where over-saturation and consumer cynicism have destroyed the believability of traditional advertising. Influence is now largely held in grassroots efforts, media messages, creative partnerships and viral buzz. The mass economy of a few decades ago has been replaced by a ‘customer economy’ which calls for person-to-person communications built on trust. PR plays a very unique role in shaping brand perception and leveraging the new economy to boost sales, plus it allows you to use 3rd party endorsement and human interest to give your products and services a distinct edge.

Our public relations services always focus on mutually beneficial relationships, and that is what gives our firm credibility and our clients a distinct edge. Mutualism comes into play in how we pitch stories as well. Journalists, producers and editors are all looking for content that will boost their market appeal and resonate with their target audience (hint: their goal is not to market your company for free!). Mutualism also matters in helping clients build a creative hook into their PR angle to begin with. We help build relationships between non-profits and for-profits, leverage corporate philanthropy to boost exposure, and market the good works that a business does behind the scenes to increase revenues and generate loyalty.

Relationship building in the practice of public relations is crucial to building an effective and consistent campaign. One of the earliest and most powerful statements on this topic was made by John W. Hill, founder of Hill & Knowlton. He said:

"When we look at the work of corporate enterprise, we may properly say that
every corporation has public relations. It has them whether management is
interested in the ways of public opinion or not. It has them because the corporation
deals with employees, stockholders, customers, neighbors, government
functionaries, and many others—with all of whom it has many relationships.
The corporation thus is constantly involved in public relations, even if
management gives them no special thought or concern or guidance. . . .
But when a management decides to guard, improve, or develop this asset,
“public relations” becomes the label for a function. Here the term that took
a plural verb becomes singular, so that now we say: “Public relations is a
function of top management in every well-managed corporation.”"

When your PR focus shifts from an advertising bent to wanting to inform, educate, assist and provide value for both consumers and professional allies, you'll see a marked change in how the public perceives you. And it has to be authentic - not a con! I consider PR to be TRUTH - and we always encourage clients to become the ‘spin’ they want to see in print and on the airwaves. It's important to practice what you preach and back up your rhetoric with action or you'll lose all credibility with Joe Consumer quickly.

By understanding the power of mutually beneficial relationships, you can earn credibility as opposed to buying it by inspiring, amazing and solving problems for consumers in ways that boost free press and encourage word of mouth buzz. Plus, you'll be benefiting strong partner organizations and making the world a better place at the same time!

With mutualism in PR - everybody wins.

LLC or S Corp?

This week I had a question arise with a client forming a new entity... What, exactly, are the differences between an S Corporation and a Limited Liability Company? And why would I choose one over the other?

Corporations and LLCs are both great business structures because unlike sole props and partnerships, they offer liability protection for owners. Meaning that the owner of a business cannot be held personally responsible for the company’s debts and their personal assets are shielded.

S corps and LLCs are both considered “pass-through” entities for tax purposes, so the income of these companies are reported on the owners’ personal income tax returns and the issue of double taxation is eliminated (the company doesn't pay income tax and then distribute dividends to owners who also pay personal income tax on the money).

So what are the differences between an S corporation and an LLC? To sum up, an LLC is your best option if flexibility and minimizing paperwork are important to you. If however; you want to reduce employment tax, an S corporation could work better.

Let's start with S corps... An S corporation can have no more than 75 shareholders (the legal label for owners). An S corporation is operated in the same way as a traditional C corp and has to adhere to all the same regulations and bookkeeping procedures. None of the shareholders can be nonresident aliens or other corporations or LLCs. The directors or officers of an S corp manage the company and they have no flexibility in how profits are split up. The profits must be distributed according to the percentages of stock ownership, even if the owners have some justification for distributing the profits differently.

Now for LLCs... LLCs offer greater flexibility in ownership and simplicity of operation. There are no restrictions on the ownership of an LLC, and Limited Liability Companies are not subject to the plethora of formalities by which S corps must abide. An LLC can be member-managed (meaning that the owners actually run the company) or it can be manager-managed by non-owner staff with designated responsibility for operations.

The primary factor that differentiates an S corporation from an LLC is the employment tax that owners pay on earnings. In an S corporation, only the salary you pay yourself as an employee-owner is subject to employment tax. The remaining income you get as a distribution is not subject to employment tax under IRS rules. The owner of an LLC is considered to be self-employed by the IRS and must pay the going “self-employment tax” rate of 15.3% which is their contribution to Social Security and Medicare. Typically in an LLC the entire net income of the business is subject to self-employment tax which can mean a much higher total tax bill.

Here's an example:

Let's say you own florist and you are an S corp. According to the industry standard, you pay yourself a salary of $35,000. But the company earns additional profits, so your total for the year is $60,000: $35,000 in salary and $25,000 as a distribution from the S corp. This means your employment tax is $5,355 (15.3% of $35,000). If you were structured as an LLC, you would have to pay employment tax on the entire $60,000, equaling $9,180, so by operating as an S corporation you save $3,825 in employment tax.

A word of caution! You may be getting excited about the option of jacking up your salary to cover most of the distributions you will receive and saving a ton of money, but the IRS is careful to notice whether a salary is 'reasonable' by industry standards. If they decide your salary is out of line, the IRS will reclassify some of it. :(

In summary, while the potential employment tax savings may make the S corporation an attractive structure, you will have to deal with all the paperwork associated with payroll tax and you'll have to 'pay-as-you-go' throughout the year. Paperwork can be time-consuming and annoying if you are only doing it for yourself and not for an entire staff. You also can't postpone tax payments to cover a cash crunch or balance out losses. Owners of LLCs pay their self-employment tax once a year with their income taxes. Income tax filings are simple for an LLC and work like sole proprietorships or partnerships.

Bottom line... there is no one perfect business structure for every situation and you have to decide what your priorities are. Visit the SBA to learn more about the options for structuring your new business, and talk to your CPA or tax attorney to get professional help in choosing the right structure for you.

Is Twitter, well... Twitterific? Or just a waste of time?

Thanks to Erin at Voco Creative for sharing this viewpoint on the Twitter phenomenon! www.vococreative.com

Twitter: who cares?
It's on the tongue of every pundit and next-big-thing preacher. Twitter has hit big over the past several months, and the statistics are staggering...the service is averaging 131% growth every month, and it's estimated that 9 million unique visitors visit every month.

With those kinds of numbers, you're probably asking why you can benefit from Twitter. In lieu of offering a thesis on the subject, I'll instead present the top three reasons you should care about Twitter:

It’s all about conversation. If you aren’t having a conversation with your potential clients and colleagues via social media, you’re missing the boat. Twitter doesn’t just give you an unprecedented chance to engage with your base…it allows you to start, shape, and exert a degree of control over the conversation that just can’t be achieved by a press release, a sound bite, or an advertorial. And the options are endless: you can talk directly to your base, ask them questions, gauge their opinions, solicit their feedback, be helpful and offer advice.

It’s happening. Whether or not you like it, Twitter has taken off in a big way. Does every business need Twitter? No way. But don’t dismiss it because it’s new, trendy, and admittedly over-hyped. The amount of creativity and excitement generated by Twitter is truly energizing and engaging if you know how to use it properly.

It’s opportunity. Opportunity to find out what your customers and your colleagues care about. Opportunity to make mistakes, hone that brand, and get deep into voice and vision. Opportunity to dip your toe into a huge conversation and watch it morph before your eyes. Opportunity to be on the cutting edge before it changes into something else (just look at the evolution of hashtags over the past few months). And, yes, opportunity to get business.

Follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/trishatakamai
Connect with VOCO at http://twitter.com/vococreative

10 Keys to Keep Yourself Off the Layoff List

Right now most corporate employees are a little panicky about their job stability. Instead of stressing, use these 10 tips to be sure someone else gets the ax before you do.

By Ariane de Bonvoisin and John Kilcullen

What's triggering fears and sleepless nights for many of us about the unemployment abyss is not the job-loss stats themselves, but the depth of the cuts — and the qualifications of some of the people getting jettisoned. The questions we keep hearing are: Why do highly skilled, seemingly essential people get cut while others don't? Are there patterns? How can I make myself indispensable?

In talking with employers about what they most value in employees right now, it became clear that the key to surviving isn't so much about the skills you have, the awards you've won, or the tasks you perform day in and day out. It's as much about qualities, habits, and capacities.

This is no time to keep plugging along head down, half expecting every meeting invitation you open to be your exit interview. You must take action to embody the qualities of those employees who always get promoted and always avoid the next round of layoffs.

And don't think that just because your company isn't downsizing or has said it has no plans to that you're safe. Things can and do change fast in this environment, so take preventive measures. Plus, the kinds of qualities we're talking about will serve you well when things turn around.

1. Remember: It's not about you right now
Force yourself to focus with laser accuracy on your company's success, not your own. In challenging times, the last thing your employer wants is to cater to you and your fears. They want you to be a selfless, highly collaborative team player who meets and exceeds your commitments. Your presence can't be an energy drain or create work.

2. Become a black belt at change
The most important skill to develop right now is finesse at navigating change. That means flexibility and open-mindedness. Accept whatever management throws your way. If they change direction (again), shuffle the product mix, add new goals, or refine strategy on the fly, say yes to all of it. Resisting change only makes life more difficult for management and for everyone.

This also applies to those things you took for granted. Accept that your expense budget and staff have been cut. Accept that you now have more work on your plate with the same (or fewer) resources than you had a year ago.

3. Everything is your job
Demonstrate your commitment to the overall success of your team and your company by taking on tasks that fall outside your job responsibilities. Pitch in on packing up the trade-show booth. Manage your own schedule/address book/travel plans. Offer to take notes and follow up after every meeting.

Nothing is beneath you. The little things you do above and beyond your job description will serve you well when it's performance appraisal and/or downsizing time. Forget your fancy title, your impressive résumé — and your ego.

4. Walk away from the water cooler
When straits are dire and headlines scary, the last thing your company needs is negative, gossipy employees who polarize colleagues into an us-vs.-them dynamic. Employers value passionate overachievers whose uplifting attitude contributes to a more energizing team culture. Whatever it takes, keep the negative mindset out of the office. This is your mantra: No complaining, no blaming! Dwell on what can be rather than what can't.

5. "Unwritten Rules" are now engraved in stone
Show up early, stay late. Everyone notices people who leave on the dot of 5 (or before) or take very long lunches or excessive coffee/smoking breaks. Don't get a reputation for being one of those people who takes forever to respond to an e-mail, voicemail, or a simple question. Vigilantly follow up on all assigned action items. Management is increasingly scrutinizing your every move.

6. Step up — and wear very big shoes
Don't wait for someone else to solve your problems. Your manager needs to hear how the organization can trim costs, manage the supply chain better, find a new client, improve processes, motivate the workforce, and deliver the next big thing. Observe what your competitors are trying and testing, read everything relentlessly, and ask people how you can improve what you do.

Your goal here is to make sure there'd be a gaping hole if you were no longer around. Make the choice every day to do work that really matters to the success of the team and the company. Put yourself in a position that is crucial to the success of a new initiative, or dig in to solve a vexing, long-neglected problem. Maintain a bias for action in every meeting.

7. Transparency is your new trump card
You must be totally transparent as to what you're working on and how it fits with management objectives. There can be no hiding, and no withholding information. If you don't have enough on your plate, say it. Ask to take on more—or better yet, suggest projects you can spearhead that have killer ROI.

The more honest your superiors believe you are, the more likely they are to trust you and keep you close. Being authentic builds relationships, even more than just hard work. Stop hoping no one finds out who you are or what you really do all day. Let people in … or they'll be showing you the door. Employers are likely to keep you around if they see you as a vital associate.

8. Make friends in new places
Human resources and finance are two departments that can have a significant impact on your career whether you realize it or not. They know a lot about you that can influence how you're perceived. Respect those folks, socialize with them, ask for their advice, and make sure you carefully do a little self-promotion. When cuts need to be made, you won't be an unknown quantity to them.

9. Start Tweeting or start packing
Look at the Millennials and see how they work, how they make decisions, and what technology and tools they use. No time for "I don't do Twitter or Facebook." Acquaint yourself with social networks, mobile applications, and commerce platforms to remain relevant. Let them intimidate you and you give your boss reasons to replace you with someone younger and more in the game. Ask a family member to help, take a course, read a book … and dive in.

10. Fit club
Healthy people tend to have better outlooks and are easier to be around. They take good care of themselves, which in turn earns them the respect of others. Fit people often set high standards for themselves both at work and at play. And they just have more stamina, so they tend not to get tired when on deadline, and they don't call in sick as much. They have incredible endurance when others are reaching for that 10th Coke or itching to make that next trip to Starbucks. They are also calmer and more productive. So get your sleep, eat well, exercise, stay hydrated, and avoid excessive caffeine and alcohol. This is an investment that will pay dividends for you and your employer. And yes, your employer does notice.

Rate yourself. Which of these 10 areas are you excelling in, which are you doing O.K. in, and where do you need to change your behavior? The truth hurts, doesn't it? But take the steps to make sure that it's your career that gets rolling, rather than your head.