Idea Mensch interviewed me & my business.

I was very honored by the article and my thanks to Mario. I can't say anymore about speading your company's message to your audience.

 

Biscuits Cafe on Johnson Creek Road in Clackamas, OR.

I was invited to my first Molly's Fund board member interview at Biscuit's Cafe. They are a local chain in the Portland metro area. Their food is consistent and large portions (you could split a normal plate with two other people). Never had a bad meal. 

But this franchise went to the point of putting their PURPOSE right on the wall when you walk in (with the owner's signatures). That tells me that they are going stand behind their food, employees and service. I like that.

To make it one step better would be to show your customers the faces (and their stories) that provide them with the fresh food. 

 

© 2011 Michael Johnson - Inkspot Graphics. All rights reserved

Have you ever had one of those little damned screws come out from your eye glasses?

Needless to say it is very frustruating! I decided to go to the local Sears store (Optical Dept) and get it fixed before I lost the expensive lens. I was the first customer in the optical department and I don't know if you have ever been there but it usually is fairly slow – even during the Christmas holiday.

The nice woman at the counter asked if I needed any help and told her about my glasses needing to be fixed. She said, "That replacement screw will cost $5.00". I said that would be fine. "It will take me a few minutes, if you want to shop around…". I told her no problem. I wandered into the tool department, half blind. After I killed 10 minutes I walked back into the Optical Dept and the woman said, "I have your glasses fixed but noticed that the nose bridges are worn, did you want me to replace those…it would be another $5-$10? I said, "No thanks, I am going to get them replaced within the next month."

Now how am I going to pass on a good optical business recommendation to Sears? A number of things that she could of done to get my business and tell the world about this great optical business that I love to recommend:

1. The cost of screw and time that it took to fix the glasses wasn't important. They could of said, "We love to do this for you – call it our holiday gift to you…by the way we also replaced your nose bridges…at no cost! Do you have an emergency set of glasses in case it happens again?

2. So, I am half blind without my glasses. It really doesn't do any good have me wandering around the store because I am not going to buy anything. But if they gave me some temporaries I could have gone into the electronic department and watched some television and contemplated about buying a new set.

3. Get an opportunity to introduce yourself and get on a first name basis with the customer. 

4. How long has it been since you have been for your eyes checked? I could have slip you in right now to see the optomotrist and get your eyes checked for a special price of $49.99! That would be convenient since I am waiting and I need to have it done!

Hmm. Your thoughts or suggestions?

 

© 2011 Michael Johnson - Inkspot Graphics. All rights reserved

Ben Sandberg - PDX Fix It

I started working with a friend of mine that is a local Joomla web developer that was looking to rebrand himself. 

I have started this new book by Simon Sinek, "Start with Why". All I can say is that I usually start off the conversation with, "What is your PURPOSE".

WEEK 1

We went through the discovery process and researching his competition and target market. I went through and made four pages of conceptional ideas. 

WEEK 2

Looked at mood board printouts with various colors and images (icons). Dug deeper into what was his "purpose". By discussing more he found that he had quite a few different directions he could take his company.

WEEK 3

Presentation of three polished concepts that I liked and completely identified his personality. My challenge was to make his brand memorable and his company's URL to stick in his customer's head. We also talked about what are the descriptive key words that describe him and his business. So if your potential clients are trying to look for you what would they Google search for?

I really thought that makes Ben unforgettable is that he is always wearing those shoes that have the toes sticking out. He loves those and I think that it is one of the funniest things that I will always remember about him.

Ben told me that his wife, Amanda, was really impressed with the brand discovery process and wanted me to do her company's logo. It is really nice to have people that are excited and see the real value of having a purpose.

Meet Chuck from E-Zee Fence Post Repair.

 

I got a referral from a friend of mine. I called and I met Chuck at Starbucks. We exchanged business cards and I was trying not to let my jaw hit the ground! I looked at his business card and was frustrated because I didn't know what his logo or product was. He asked me what I thought of it…

There were a couple of problems:

1. I asked him how he picked his company's name "E-Zee Fence Post Repair"

CHUCK'S ANSWER:

It described the ease of using the product. Unfortunately, there is another company with the name EZ Fence and E-Z Fence products.

* This is a big branding problem if you are trying to sell a product that conflicts with competitor names. Most of the time the buyer will go with the first one that he finds.

2. His company card didn't have a logo that makes product memorable to target market. 

I took some time to explain how branding works for your business. The card that the designer created had three different icons on it. The recycle bug, the fence and the "President's Club" logo.

He explained that his background was in sales and that the designer that he hired basically created the pieces without any reasoning. And billed him $1500.00 to boot!

3. The designer didn't use any bleeds on the card (which normally has the card cut unevenly). It also tells me that he probably had it printed online to cut his costs.

4. Used all CAPS for the long business name. It is harder to read both for print & web.

5. The designer's "Before" business card didn't stick out. I told Chuck that he needed to have a sticker of his brand on the product (I will show in another post). I presented his card with a blue and red logo (which really popped). Chuck didn't want his logo to have that much attention so we compromised on a brown color.

I told Chuck that I would help him out with his branding and all his marketing. I knew that he didn't have very much more money to spend before he went broke, so I put a little time in this project. My goal is to do the right thing and give Chuck some marketing that would help his business and look professional. He has been very happy with his new campaign. Unfortunately, I met with a public relations specialist, Amber Dennis and she told me that Chuck should rethink his whole business name but he couldn't afford to spend anymore time (or money) with branding his product. I did the best with the cards I was dealt and it was a HUGE STEP for Chuck and his business!

My next post will show the brochure that I created for E-Zee Fence Post Repair.

From an article posted in the Costco Connection by Andrew Lock on "Don't Give UP".

Elton John

"A friend of mine in the music industry personally auditioned a singer by the name of Reg Dwight in the 1960s. He unceremoniously shoved the singer out of his office for wasting his time. That singer is now better known as Elton John."

From an article posted in the Costco Connection by Andrew Lock on "Don't Give UP".

Fred Astaire

After his first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, read, "Can't sing. Slightly balk. Can dance a little." Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.

Why we struggle in our public schools…

I am reading a very inspirational book by Malcolm Gladwell called "Outliers".

Gladwell's interview sounds like a conversation that I have had with many people about being a creative artist…

"We sometimes think of being good at mathematics as an innate ability. YOu either have 'it' or you don't. But to Schoenfeld, it's not so much ability as ATTITUDE."

Gladwell quotes this math professor, Alan Schoenfeld, from Berkeley, "Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds." 

From an article posted in the Costco Connection by Andrew Lock on "Don't Give UP".

Charles Schulz

"every cartoon that Charles Schulz (creator of the comic strip Peanuts), submitted to the yearbook staff at his high school was rejected.

 

From an article posted in the Costco Connection by Andrew Lock on "Don't Give UP".

Albert Einstein

"did not speak until he was 4 years old and did not read until he was seven. His parents thought he was 'subnormal,'  and one of his teachers described him as 'mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in foolish dreams.' He was expelled from school.