I’m not exactly sure where mine is, but I’m sure it’s hiding somewhere.  Every time I receive a new phone book on my doorstep, I have a tough time deciding whether to keep it or throw it in the trash.  Most people I know throw it away.

Essentially, businesses listed in the yellow pages of the phone book are either hiding under my couch or waiting for the garbage truck to take them away.

When I’m looking for a specific service, instead of finding my phone book I head straight to Google.  The Internet has made searching for a local car wash or dry cleaner SO simple.  It seems like everyone else is right there with me, 79% of Americans online use the Internet to find a local business.*

Which leads me to my point, is your business online?

In the past year, the amount of small business’ with their own websites have increased by 46%.  However, there’s still a long way to go.

Before coming to MycroBurst, I worked with a variety of small businesses to help establish their online presence.

One of my clients didn’t really know where to start, but they knew they wanted to make the transition from the Coupon Clipper to online.  This owner previously established a Facebook page, which was a great start.  But when searching for their company online, all you saw was an arrow on Google Maps.  They had no other online presence.

One piece of advice I shared with my clients is:  Social Media is a great way to interact with your clients but it should never be used as your business’ main website.

Don’t get me wrong I’m well aware that social media is the future of the Internet and I’m a true believer in it.  But you have to be careful — as the rise and fall of AOL demonstrated, you cannot control the future of someone else’s domain.  You need to create your own.

In the end I was able to help my client establish their own, personalized website – for less than $900.  With their brand new website they are able to highlight each of their employees, show what services they offer, schedule appointments online and share their special promotions!

Their website is still in existence and is rising to the top of Google searches for their industry in their local area.  They now are able to share new products and sales with their customers and they couldn’t be more thrilled.

Between the always changing Internet and lack of phone books, a professional and custom website should be the next step in your business’ plan.  Get out of the dumpster and get online!

You’re lucky, I’ve found a great deal for you.  Don’t put off getting your business online any longer.  MycroBurst is offering $100 off any Complete Website Design Solution this month only.  Use code 4GETPHONEBOOK when placing your order.

The above coupon code is no longer valid, it has brought to my attention people were using it incorrectly!!   Unfortunately since some can’t play by the rules, you must call in to redeem the $100 deal.

Call our support team at (877) 525-5646 and let them know you want to redeem the January Complete Web Design Promotion today!  This coupon expires January 31st – call now to use for your new website!

For any work of art that is on public display, criticism is bound to arise.  If your art work is your only source of earning, then you definitely need to master the art of handling criticism positively.  Graphic designers are just as prone to criticism as any other creative artist. When you work for clients, you are destined to come across criticism that may target your artistic sense, creative originality and technical skills.

One way to help dealing with criticism is to be aware of your weaknesses. Here are a few more tips to help turn criticism into positive feedback:

1.  Never Lose Your Cool

If you have anger and ego issues, there’s a tough road ahead. Remember to never lose your cool, even if you think your client may be wrong.  Cool down first and send him a polite reply explaining why you did what you did and that you appreciate his feedback. Being calm, cool and collective will result in a better ending.

Your client might not understand certain issues as well as you do, but perhaps you need to reconsider his/her statements.  Ask yourself if you understand his/her views perfectly. Put yourself in their shoes and try to think from their perspective before you develop an opinion on their criticism.

2.  Don’t Take It Personally

Just because your work has faced criticism, doesn’t mean that you are a loser.  Relax.  Even the best of designers face the worst criticism and survive. This doesn’t stop them from being the best and it doesn’t stop them from trying harder. Everyone makes mistakes and as art is open to interpretation.  Try not to take a critic’s voice to heart.  Believe in your work and continue to improve your skills, but always be aware of what you’re creating to avoid making silly mistakes.  Sometimes it’s these mistakes that take away your excellent work credit.

3.  Avoid Being Egocentric

Yes, we all have an ego that prevents us from taking criticism positively.  But, while it’s good to be proud of your work, it’s unhelpful to be egotistic about it.  Most of us develop a defense mechanism the moment someone comments on our work.  Don’t be like that. Curb your ego, develop a listening ear and understand what your client is trying to say.

Contrary to belief, a client will not be unreasonable on purpose. There is typically logical thinking behind the criticism. Perhaps you don’t understand your client’s services or your research is lacking. Do your best to understand what the client wants and ask him/her to be more specific.  If needed, modify your work and send a professional response. Before you let your ego get the best of you, remember that you are at the receiving end. Whatever you say or do will influence your earnings. Do you want to give up just because your ego didn’t allow you to take criticism positively?

4.  Never Argue With a Client

Even if you believe you’re 100% right, never argue with a client. Communicate instead. Ask what s/he expects from the design and what improvements s/he requires. Arguing will make a situation such as this more dramatic.  If you think the client is still being unfair even, present facts politely with proof and reason with him in a very professional manner.

5.  Avoid a Careless Attitude

Some designers tend to have an “I don’t care” attitude, which is not good. When you are careless and don’t care about your client’s requirement, it shows in your work. Bad attitude is likely to hurt your career as much as bad work would. Be professional in your approach, your client might forgive your mistakes and be willing to give you another chance at making up.

At the end of the day, it depends on how confident, smart and professional you are. Develop these qualities and deal with clients in a positive and polite manner. It’s not just about the money but also about your reputation, this is harder to earn back if lost.

Ensuring clarity in what your business does will result in lasting success.  Many entrepreneurs and business owners believe that being a jack of all trades will make your business successful.  Unfortunately, it’s just the opposite.

Here are a few question to ask yourself, to be sure that you’re on the right track.

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What are the focus and specialty of your business?

For some, this might be an easy question to answer.  For others, you may not know where to start.  What is the purpose of your business?  What service, career field or goods are you focusing on?

I recently read an article at OpenViewPartners.com that told a story about a restaurant with an unclear focus.  They decided they wanted to serve all types of food that they could.

Let’s look a little closer at this as an example.  You’re opening a restaurant, what’s your focus?  Are you going to be sit-down or take-out?  What style of dining — formal or casual?  What is your food focus – pizza, Chinese or Mexican?  Not only does this help to give your business focus, it also avoids confusion among your prospective clientele.

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When it comes to the specialty of your business, think of what your business excels at specifically. Let’s use a general contractor as an example.  Yes, a general contractor can do a whole lot of different tasks – they’re very talented in that way!  However, if you ask said general contractor what their specialty is, I bet they can give you an answer.

Similar to the restaurant answer, you need to establish your company’s specialty.  This will help to separate you from competition and not overcrowd your business.  Say you’re specialty is kitchen remodeling.  When someone needs a kitchen remodel, they’ll know which contractor to call.  It will also help to grow a fan base and the more business you do, the more you will be seen as an expert in that certain area.

Having a clean focus and/or specialty allows your business to be visual and searchable.  When someone looks online or in the yellow pages for a kitchen remodeler, guess who’s going to come up in results?  You, from there you can begin to build your brand in your area.  This is also a great way to get referrals!

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Who are you targeting?

This can be a tough one to answer … at times.  Everyone has a target audience, defining it can be the tricky part.

Unfortunately, what your business offers not necessarily define your audience – for example if you’re a hair salon, you don’t want to target just anyone with hair.  You need to be more specific.  How do you expect your marketing to be effective if you don’t even know who you are targeting?

We’ll continue with the hair salon for an example.  Hair dressers, similar to general contractors, have a specialty – one type of service they are exceptional at.  Clarifying this specialty will aid in targeting future clientele.  Are you using your stylists’ abilities to help bring in your target customers?  If your salon focuses on a more modern, new wave of hair fashion, chances are you aren’t going to be targeting the 55 and older community.

With a clear target audience, you will be able to work your marketing strategies more effectively.

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These are only a few tips of many, to ensure you have a clarity in your market.  Having an unclear business perspective, one with contradicting goals, can make it hard for you to concentrate on what’s important — your customers.  Your customers are the livelihood of your business.

Keeping a clear business focus will avoid customer confusion and have new customers seeking your business.

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Did you know?  We’re on Facebook & Twitter!  Check us out!

While sifting through design drafts, we often come across designers who submit similar designs in various contests. This practice is highly discouraged as it leads to, in most cases, an embarrassing situation for the client as well as the designer. Sometimes the same logo design can be picked as a winner in two or more contests, creating an awkward situation. Every company deserves a unique logo and if another business already has a similar logo it will create trademark infringement issues for the client.

When is it OK to Submit ‘Similar’ Logo Designs?

Remember, we are discouraging you to make similar logo designs however; we are not discouraging you to re-use your logo. You are welcome to submit or reuse a logo design if it meets all of the following criteria:

1.       The logo design should not contain Clipart or Stock images

2.       The logo design should not be a derivative of another designer’s work

3.       It should not be similar to any other existing logo in the same or another running contest

4.       It should not already be a winning design draft in another contest

5.       The same logo design should not be part of a locked contest pending consideration

What Logo Designers Should Know

Here are few important points that we would like you to take note of while submitting a design draft:

> Do Not Take Shortcuts: First of all, as a designer you should know your capabilities as well as your limitations. You can participate in multiple projects only if you can create unique and original work for ALL the projects. Do not take a short cuts and give “one size fit all” logo designs. That is a call for trouble.

> Avoid Free Graphic Brushes & Symbols: Don’t depend on using graphic design brushes for creating a logo; these can be used as supporting elements only. And avoid using free graphic design symbols at all cost as these will lead to copyright issues.

> Understand Trademark Infringement: Being a logo designer, you should know when a logo design of one company is the replica of another company’s logo as such cases lead to trademark infringement. If caught in this dilemma, your career as a logo designer will be cut short brutally.

MycroBurst takes its logo designers and customers very seriously. We work around the clock to provide our clients as well as our designers with a platform from which they can both benefit. Educating our designers is one of our top priorities. We want to help our designers succeed and educate them so they can satisfy our customers – for us these two things go hand in hand. By following the simple guidelines given above, designers will be able to save themselves from the hassle of trademark issues or worse – jeopardizing their careers.

The holidays are right around the corner, what a perfect time to reconnect with your customers!

How can you do this in a way that is memorable and helps your business stand out?  We know how, holidize!

Holidizing is adding a bit of the holiday season into your brand’s designs!  Sprinkle it on your logo, company emails, website, marketing strategy and more.

Holidizing your brand’s designs is a great way to distinguish your business and increase your revenue. It can be included in holiday cards, email communications and on your website. Let us help you holidize your brand!
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Why holidize?

There are several reasons (and benefits) why holidizing this season is a great thing to do!

- Adding a little holiday flair to your logo design not only makes your brand stand out from others, it also shows a bit of your company’s personality! A holidized logo can become the center piece of your marketing for the holiday season. Use the holidized logo on your website, Facebook and Twitter accounts for extra impact.

- Use your holidized designs on social media to keep your customers engaged. Then, tweet about extended store hours, special events or one day only coupons.  You could even reward your twitter followers that retweet.  Facebook offers location specific posts.  Post these to let customers about events and specials at your company.  Including a coupon that can only be used during the event is always a great idea. These small posts will help drive traffic and revenue directly to you!

- Show your appreciation of your clients by sending them a custom, holiday greeting postcard! Your clients are the main reason your business is successful – why not thank them? We couldn’t think of a better time to do so! Sending a custom, holiday greeting postcard will definitely exude the time you put in to pick just the right design to thank your customers!
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What parts of my brand can I holidize?

At MycroBurst, the options are truly endless!  Here are a few ideas to get your holidizing started:

-Your logo! Revamp your current logo with a touch of holiday cheer.

- Advertisements. Holidized ads definitely stand out apart from a typical ad!

- Company emails. If you’ve seen ours, you have seen that we’ve revamped our email header – it’s a refreshing update for the season!

- Greeting Postcards. Create a CUSTOM card that includes the holidized to thank your clients!

- And more!  You could even holidize your vehicle with a car wrap or magnet – your choices are truly endless!

Don’t want to wait to long – especially if you need to get something printed.  The holiday season will come and go before you know it!  So, go now!  Visit MycroBurst to launch your project !  While you’re there, check out this custom greenting postcard contest on of our project holders started!

Don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!