Why a grant?

First question I get about the Capacity to Care Program is what is the catch. Second if there is a tax advantage for calling it a grant?

Well there is no catch, like any business and perhaps ours more than others is asked to support good causes with contributions of time, talent, product and money. It is very difficult to say no to some and yes to others.

Accountants may not think it is to smart because if you figure overhead and labor into the equation then selling something that is already competitively priced for half ... is not the way to run a business.

I believe that your overhead and labor are expenses that you are going to pay regardless of whether you have excess capacity or not .. so you might as well put that excess capacity to good use and do it in such a way that you generate enough income to cover materials and part of your costs.. and do a lot of good in the process... hey, nothing wrong, so long as there is capacity that would otherwise go to waste.

Speaking about process. I hope that this program will keep us all sharp, continuously looking for ways to improve on our process and look for ways to cut out steps in the process. That is what lean is all about.You find those improvements when you work towards capacity .. when you are working below capacity the motivation to focus on improving your process to increase your capacity is just not as strong.

I will keep you posted and please ask questions by posting a comment on this Blog, because it is probably a question that someone else has.

Capacity to Care

Like most industries, there are busiy seasons that when it rains it pours and other times when it is not as busiy was we would like. We are increasing our capacity to produce daily with improvement in our process. So what do we do with our excess capacity?

We decided to make good use of it by starting a matching grant program for non-profits.

In short, it provides them with a dollar for dollar match or in other words a 50% discount on our goods and services to qualifying non-profits who plan ahead.

Before starting a business I worked for the American Heart Association. For 17 years I worked with and for terrific people who were on a mission to reduce premature death and disability from heart disease.

Well there are many good causes in America and we are are going to see how much capacity we have to care about as many as possible.

I figure that given ample time to squeeze a job in, we should be able to do a lot of good. http://www.bellagraphics.com/capacitytocare.htm

Lean Thinking Articles

From Curious Cat Management Improvement Connections comes a list of favorite articles on Lean Thinking.

This is an excellent place to start if you are looking for "lean" in a nutshell.

Lean Marketing Insights

Michelangelo Celli considers six sigma and other lean manufacturing concepts as a way of bringing more science to improving the marketing process.

Aditorial - Ad with substance.

Lean marketing is always about process. Part of our "Bella's" marketing process is to develope a "case" for each new product offering. In that case we strive to provide reasons why our clients need our offering.

We are about to introduce a "Branding Guide" to our clients via a combination of aditorials. ads with substance, and how to articles. Oh how we struggled to keep the following short.

We are from Sheridan, Wyoming. . The #1 western town. Its spring which means it is branding time. Our clients are from all over the country .. but branding time to our local market rings a special bell.

Smart Businesses Rely on Visual Identity to Increase Sales—Branding
Bella Graphics full service graphic design firm creates visual identity for businesses

Special Report by Ron Kensey

Branding will likely become more important for businesses as technology advances increase consumer awareness of products & services

A media rich 21st Century is fueling demand for products & services. Branding experts say that for businesses to keep their marketing efforts effective they need to first examine their brand(s).

So what is a brand? A brand is a name, logo, and design scheme that is used as a visual cue to help prospects recall what they know about a company, product or service. An effective brand doesn’t require interpretation or explanation; it is elegantly simple, unique and easy to recall.

The process of developing elements of a brand, such as its name, image, unique quality and relevant marketing messages is derived from examining why consumers or businesses buy from particular organizations and how branding affects the purchasing decision.

Bella Graphics & Display, a full service graphic design firm based in Sheridan, Wyoming, consults its clients on their brand(s). Bella’s experienced team helps create or freshen up existing brands by developing a branding guide for its clients that clearly identifies visually how the brand should look in a variety of formats.

The guide specifies the exact corporate colors, fonts and design schemes including suggestions on how to incorporate the brand in web site design or web site banners. Printers and vendors appreciate the guide because they know exactly what is expected of them in a language that they understand.

Bella provides the branding guide on CD to its clients. It contains a brands logo in a proper .eps file format as well as several useful ready-to-use templates for business cards, letterhead, envelopes and fax cover sheets. Should Bella clients need additional visual ads, such as sell sheets, advertisements, brochures, or a hard copy of their website, these creatives can be created and included on the branding cd.

The guide is a tool that works well for implementing the organization-wide use of the brand. The guide saves businesses time, money and has the piece of mind that the branding tools are in place to ensure consistent use of the brand.

Examine your brand today with Bella Graphics visual imaging experts by calling 307-675-1007 for a free consultation. Let Bella’s advertising and marketing expertise help you keep your products and services in front of your customers! Visit http://www.bellagraphics.com/theguide for more information.

Lean Blog: Looking for Lean Quotes

Lean Continuous Improvement started on the manufacturing floor .. Lean is about managing the process and removing waste and unnecessary steps. Marketing is a process .. or should be and there are a number of steps in that process that need to be examined... and its no surprise, there is waste in the marketing process ... what a shocker!

Here are some terrific quotes on Lean

Lean Blog: Looking for Lean Quotes: "'If you see a snake, just kill it - don't appoint a committee on snakes.'

The New Marketing Age to replace the old Ad Age

You ARE a marketer. Deal with it comes to us from Kathy Sierra for Passionate "Creating Passionate Users"

Mass marketing is out .. and the new marketing concept of viral marketing is in. Focusing on niches is the key.

It may be more important to identify market segments with names like "sneezers" and "early adopters" than "boomers" or x'ers ...

Corporate Identity Resources

Here is a great collection of the Branding Guidelines for specific companies. It comes to us from
A Website about Corporate Identity This is the English version of a Dutch site that contains lots of examples of real corporate identities.

American Heart Association Branding Guide

My first career was with the American Heart Associaion. I worked for a period of time at the national office in Dallas. That is where I first learned about graphic standards.

I came accross the American Heart Association Branding Guide and it is excellent.

Printers and vendors love it because with a branding guide they have exactly what they need at their finger tips. They also know exactly what is expected of them in a language they understand.

Staff like it because it provides templates for stationary, business cards, fax cover sheets are available in template form.

Stained Glass Prints

Here is a project that we have been working on with Pella Window Company. www.durableprints.com

We actually print on clear acrylic .. which is quite a trick since it has taken us over a year to produce a quality product.

My point is .. that the digital revolution has opened up all kinds of display opportunitites and this is one is hot.

Think about printing one at a time .. and often one of a kind images on clear acrylic .. hum .. how could you use this technology?

Branding

Found this on Adgoodness. It struck me as a creative way to use large format printing in a new way to advertise a brand.

Branding

There are many opportunities to display your brand. On stationary, business cards, envelopes, brochures, web site, shopping carts, point of purchase and trade show displays, print advertising, signs, posters product labels, brochures and dozens of other specialty items like key chains, calendars etc.

On screen within a web site, shopping cart, video production, television commercial, etc.
In audio production as in radio commercial or pod cast.

Branding is something a business does constantly and in a consistent manner in order to be recognized to achieve the recognition of potential customers.

Steps in Creating Brand Recognition

• Create crisp memorable graphics as a part of your businesses visual identity.
• Incorporate that visual identity into a “Style Guide” that tells printers and vendors and your own staff how the logo can and cannot appear in print and on the screen.
• Train key staff in the reasons and use of the style guide.
  
• Supply vendors with access to the style guide at the time that a quote has been requested.
  
• Compare proofs against the style guide.
  
• Inspect the finished product against the proofs/style guide.

Picture This

I found this and several other "views" of the same project posted on the Ad Goddess .. Ad Goddess is one of a handful of excellent blogs on advertising. It delivers the creative, unusual, and often edgy ad design.

What caught my attention was the use of large format print to shape an alternate vision. In this case the Red Cross wants you to see of a “post disaster” situation to remind you that disasters happen and they will be there to help.

In reviewing the comments, the Red Cross message or motive bothers some.

To me the creative display technique was very valuable.

I started thinking of ways to use the same technique on a more positive project on a before and after of a street or building renovation for instance.

Cut Out Printed Shapes

We are rolling out a shapes promotion. http://bellagraphics.com/shapes.htm

Our thought is that cut out shapes draw more attention that print "inside a square or rectangle box" Having carried a cut-out of Miss Wyoming through the crowed auditorium at the Miss America Pageant I can tell you that shapes draw eyes.

Miss America Brand Roll Out

We reached 19 early adopters in our Miss America Brand roll out. I think that is outstanding! There are 52 contestants and our offer was to donate the design and first print of fan merchandise in support of their entry into the Miss America Pageant, Las Vegas, January 29th.

We support Miss America. Miss America more likely to appear in a business suit than a bathing suit. The difference between Miss America and the other's is that the grand ol lady of pageants puts a high value on confidence, intelligence and talent.

This campaign is an example of social marketing. We believe that the consumer is over saturated with tv, magazine, and Internet advertising. It is all spam because it interupts people.

Social marketing targets an audience that opts to be interested in what you are saying, doing, or offering. As long as you are offering useful things like information, opinion and product that solves a problem, satisfying a need or helps them achieve a goal ... then you are in good shape.

In other words, social marketing is building a fan base. It works for Miss America, for Bella Graphics and you. It is a lot more fun and the results are measurable for a change.

What is a good Digital Photo Image

I found a great answer to this question on "All About Digital Photos"

The article says that a good quality digital photo is one :

• taken with a good quality digital camera (good optics and digital sensor)
• a photo that has not been enlarged either in post-processing or by in-camera digital zoom (never (ever) use digital zoom).
• a photo that has been properly shot (good lighting, no blur)
• a photo shot within the camera's ideal ISO range (usually a low ISO such as ISO 100)
• a photo that has been stored in either a loss less format (i.e. TIF) or a very low compressed JPEG (highest camera JPEG quality setting).

In other words take the highest quality of photo that your digital camera allows and then provide a copy of the original photo .. right off the camera .. before it is opened in photoshop or any other software.

The quality of the printed image is directly related to the quality of the image.

Odd but remarkable

Do you think it is odd for me to provide commentary on a program roll out like Miss America Brand? Some might. Blame Seth Godin. Seth writes riffs (short thoughts) on marketing, respect, and the ways ideas spread.

He inspires me and affirms that not only is it ok to be different but it is absolutely necessary ... people are burnt out on "interuption marketing"

I have found that it is much more fun to be creative. We are just learning how to create a buzz and be remarkable.

That is how we are rolling out the Miss America Brand Project. .. we are creating a buzz over there and giving your the inside story over here. Buzz Buzz

Miss America Project

Things are really heating up on the Miss America Project. We are getting a terrific response. I draw your attention to it because we are quite proud to be able to roll out a promotion program before your eyes.

It is all an experiment. We are working with shapes .. by shapes I mean cut-outs ... cutting rigid print into shapes or silhouetting the image creates an interesting dimension to prints and displays. It is great technology and you I will be writing more about it soon. So stay tuned and subscribe so you don't miss anything.

Visit our Miss America Brand Site and follow the roll out of this promotion.