When I was in grade school, we had this small (but disturbingly thick) hardcover grammar book. It was a horrible mustard yellow hue. Even to this day, I still picture this book when I think about grammar. I didn’t like it then and, to be honest, I don’t like it now. But I can recognize that despite my primary method of communication being through visuals, I need to be able to express myself clearly with words as well. I’m attempting to take a cue from the illustrious Cat and do more work on my writing. As a first step, I finally pulled The New Well-Tempered Sentence (A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed) off of my bookshelf. It’s been there for a while, but I’ve cruelly ignored it until now.

Karen Elizabeth Gordon does an excellent job of laying out the basics of punctuation in this thin, but highly informative book. Starting with the exclamation point and working her way through semicolons, hyphens, italics, and ellipses, the book balances writing rules with bizarrely entertaining examples. (While discussing independent clauses linked by commas, she throws out sentences like “The suspect removed his grimy white gloves, but another pair lurked beneath.” To illustrate a subject having two actions attributed to it, she uses this example: “She always carries bandages with her, but will give them only to bleeding people to whom she has been formally introduced.”)

I doubt that even my most hardcore grammar geek friends have ever laughed out loud while reading about writing properly. (I did while reading this one, and I got some strange looks from people in my vicinity.) It’s a bit difficult to review a book that is both short and full of writing rules, but if you’re looking to brush up on your punctuation and actually enjoy doing it, definitely pick up a copy of The New Well-Tempered Sentence.

Erin Harris | Visual Communication Designer
erinmharris.com | BoDo Author | Erin Reviews

I’ve been successful. I’ve failed. I’ve faced adversity. I’ve even faced a potential crippling injury. But, I’m still here. Yup, you betcha. I’m not dead yet (but not for a lack of trying). I have yet another opportunity to start over – and start over I will.

I realise it’s never going to be the same as it was back when I opened in 2005. And truthfully, for the rest of 2008 I’m going to struggle to catch up: physically, mentally, and business-wise.

So, how do I go about it? How do I build back up from here?

Hindsight. That’s what.

I have to start back with lessons learned.

Lesson #1
Marketing is not just having an office, a website and a cool logo. Nor is it a one-time event that will bring you a great R.O.I. It needs to be an ongoing campaign from day to day and month to month. Consistency is the key here.

Lesson #2
A business life has so many peaks and valleys, you’ll never be prepared for them all. But, with experience, you can anticipate the lows and capitalize on the highs, so you’ll have a much better chance at being successful. From my experience, Autumn is a bad time of year and I still have plenty of time to prepare. Also from my experience, I know that Summer is pretty good so I need to capitalize on those moments.

Lesson #3
It seems like such a cliché to use this phrase, but life is too short. Live in the now and know that no matter what comes, if you are breathing, you my friend are one of the richest human beings on the planet. Between my accident and other personal life occurrences I was on the verge of losing everything I own and I came to realization that “the man” can come and take every single thing I own, but “they” cannot take my life.

So now I take these three lessons and I live life to the fullest. I dream big and go after it. I under-promise and I over-deliver for each of my clients.

Half of 2008 is history, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t have time to implement my plan from the start of the year and have it carry over to 2009.

In closing, I’d like to use a quote from a book I read at the end of last year, titled, Tuesdays With Morrie:

When you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

The book surrounds the last days of a professor who taught the author during his college years. I truly believe that if you can apply your life experiences to business in a positive manner, your success can be greater than you ever expected.

Chris Tomlinson | Designer / Printer
Gonink: Design & Print | Gonink: Blog

The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II is the second book by Dave Balter, the CEO and founder of BzzAgent, a Boston-based word of mouth marketing company. While it’s not a how-to book of WOM, it is an exceptionally well-written book, employing humor and a number of excellent examples. Balter divides the book into three sections: What You Should Know (In Theory), What You Probably Know Already (Unless You Don’t), and What You Must Know (In Practice).

In the first section, Dave discusses the difference between “pure” WOM and what 99% of the rest of us have (”regular” WOM), including the 4 key features of pure WOM. He also explores the Top 40 phenomenon, including how a product gets on a person’s Top 40 list, how that list is altered, and how it comes into play in people’s daily lives. Using the horrid HeadOn commercials to illustrate his point, Dave talks about frequency, and the shift from mindless repetition to meaningful engagement on the part of consumers. There is also a bit on the Post-Purchase Effect, using the first-generation iPhone as an example, and a discussion about how WOM translates across cultures.

The second section makes a strong argument for the importance of human connection. I admit, I found the section a tiny bit biased (as one would expect, considering the book’s author and his “day job”), but that doesn’t make the points any less valid. Dave exposes some of the misconceptions WOM newbies have and mistakes they make, like untargeted samples, how to deal with “liars” in a WOM network, rewards vs. cash, and the concept that only losers have time to join a WOM network.

The most important point, and the focus of the last section, is that there are no shortcuts in WOM. Though he makes the point in the first section that good WOM cannot be deliberately created and controlled, the last section underlines the fact that WOM takes work. (Here, Dave contrasts the viral Numa Numa video and the resurgence of the Lacoste brand to illustrate this very effectively.)

There is a lot of talk in the book about how WOM is still considered to be an “unproven” method of advertising, compared to traditional methods, and the difficulty in proving its worth financially versus traditional media costs. (There’s a particularly funny story about one of “those people,” the ones who are just out to hate WOM, no matter what, in the second section. As Dave rightly calls it, how ironic that marketers, of all people, are calling out WOM as a con game. Have they taken a look at their “traditional” methods lately?)

I have a lot of respect for and curiosity about the work BzzAgent does – WOM is an aspect of advertising I haven’t been able to implement in my day job, but it is an area I thoroughly enjoy reading and learning about. Aside from this book being a fun, quick read, it peaked my interest by being a study in WOM itself. There’s some very interesting insight into how BzzAgent works, including how they subject themselves to the same standards and experiments they would employ for any client. This book’s BzzCampaign is part of that practice. Rather than being sold solely as a printed book, you can download the book as a PDF (for free) from a number of sources. (If you want, you can buy a hard copy of the book, too, don’t worry.) To download the book, go here. If you want to read a bit more about the book and the WOM campaign behind it, there’s an article on the Harvard Business Publishing website and another on the WOMMA website.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been a BzzAgent since 2007. I reported this review as a BzzReport for the book’s campaign. If you want to learn more about how BzzAgent works and what BzzAgents actually do, visit www.bzzagent.com.

Erin Harris | Visual Communication Designer
erinmharris.com | BoDo Author | Erin Reviews

Nationwide Insurance uses the slogan, “Life comes at you fast,” and they’re right, it does.

At the beginning of 2008, I was still trying to recoup from the horrible Fall and Winter months of 2007. After going through the exercise of planning out the year once again, I told myself 2008 was going to be my most successful one yet.

The idea(s) were there. The marketing plan sketched out. The creative juices flowing. I was ready to cold-call and kiss clients, lick stamps for postcards mailings, even send out white papers. Yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill.

Then came the unexpected. Ah yes, those delightful little ventures into Mylanta® Land that we all know we should plan for, yet rarely do.

As a “hobby,” I help people survive the unexpected. Well, I do my best anyway. You see, I’ve been a volunteer firefighter for almost 20 years. So, by owning my design business in my small community, I felt I could provide a valuable design and printing service and help my neighbors. Just some of the fine services offered here at Gonink World Headquarters.

The beginning of the year was busy for both my business and the fire department. Then on February 12th, we had two house fires in less than six hours.

I rushed away from work around 4:30 to assist a nearby department on a large house fire. Tired, I returned home around 10:00 p.m. The second call came while I was finishing up with a reheated dinner.

This house fire went from arrival to extinguishing “hot spots” in about ten minutes. No sweat. Well, okay … a little swear. It was a wee bit hot in there. Then, while standing in the kitchen conversing with one of the captains, I heard a “crack.” The next thing I knew (or didn’t, as the case may be), I was out cold. I hate when that happens.

During a trip to the emergency room, the diagnosis was a broken neck with a rouge disc pressing against my spinal cord. Lovely.

My sister works in this very ER. She’s even talked about people in my very same situation … people who don’t walk out of the hospital on their own.

First up for me? Emergency surgery to replace the disc and get the vertebrae fused together to try and prevent any further damage to my spinal cord. That sounded good. “Further damage,” sounded kind of bad.

What followed, you ask? Partially closing my business to begin a grueling set of physical therapy appointments preformed by who appeared to be a student of the Marquis DeSade. For 30 days I could only work part-time.

Obviously, the business struggled. But, by early April, I was given the green light to go back to work full-time. None the less I was still required to attend physical therapy three times each week.

At this point in my life I had tasted the sweet ambrosia of local and international success. I had endured the feast and famine phases of business. And, I learned more about how to survive than I ever imagined possible.

So what’s next?: Starting over. Succeeding professionally and personally. That’s what.

Chris Tomlinson | Designer / Printer
Gonink: Design & Print | Gonink: Blog

I’ve been up. I’ve been down. But nothing prepared me for the exciting events that took place early 2007.

Successful businesses usually start off the new year with fresh ideas. Putting pen to paper, they come up with plans to make that year better than the last. I was no different. 

In my first year I went through the experience of slow times. I felt the panic of no money coming in. I also suffered through sparse, grueling and uncreative projects, just to keep the cash flowing. The reality of the design biz is that not every gig is a glamour project. You do what have to to keep food on the table.

As it’s said, “Plan your work and work your plan,” Taking all this into account, I spent time coming up with my plan and began the implementation shortly after the start of the year. 

Then one day, it happened.

Backing up … I share an office with the landlord and his insurance business. His office assistants would drop by and chat a bit while bringing my mail. Every time they did, I would complain that bringing my bills was not a part of their job and that I wished they would stop. Of course, I was joking. Thankfully they all have a good sense of humour!

So one fine day his assistant brings me a stack of mail along with a quite large manila envelope … an envelope that says “Summit Creative Awards.” If I remember correctly, it was stamped with something to the effect of “Winner!” 

My heart started pounding. Doubts started bouncing. Doubts that I had actually been awarded for my design skills. “This can’t be”.  But it was. It so was true. I had won an international design award that receives thousands of entries annually and I was going to be recognized for this! Hallelujah!

For at least a week, I jumped around having a giddy, wonderful time sending out newsletters and press releases to every single media outlet I could find. I was confident that this award would start an avalanche of work. I mean, who wouldn’t want to work with such a creative and outstanding firm such as mine? A bit naive maybe? Ha! You’d better believe it.

Once again, I fell into the stinking thinking trap of believing that because I had an office (or as my good friend, Neil, might say “hung out my shingle”), I was guaranteed loads of work.

Ok, the summer was good, I made money, purchased equipment and projects were there. But as the year went on, I ran into the same problem in early Autumn. Seems I have seasonal issue on my hands.

Business came to a near standstill … again. My phone stopped ringing … again. Panic set in … again. I started buying Mylanta®  by the case… again. And this time it turned out worse than before. But wait! There’s more!

Even though I was now at the end of the year and I’m hitting what is turning out to be my slow time, another great achievement was headed my way. Gonink  was nominated for, and won, “Business of the Year” at my local Chamber of Commerce. 

So, in less than 12 months I had garnered an international award for our design and a local business award for Gonink. You’d think things couldn’t be brighter, right? That it was going to be nothing but success for me here on out, right? 

Wrong. In the words of Dickens, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” As any seasoned business owner will tell you, life & business can and do come crumbling down. Just because things look 

In February of 2008 it did just that. Literally.

Up next: Tragedy hits. Closing the doors for good a real possibility.

Chris Tomlinson | Designer / Printer
Gonink: Design & Print | Gonink: Blog

In Part One, I was happily living the creative dream life with a full time business of my own. Being my own boss, I could and did make my own hours. Work came to me so no more chomping at the bit waiting for the phone to ring. I didn’t have to market every day, because, by golly, I had work coming in! I’m figuring this is a piece of cake. I felt like I was on the top of the world with the perfect business … a dream business … all mine.

After launching, I joined the local chamber. Soon, I found myself accepted my nomination to the Board of Directors. Shortly there after, I started developing the chamber Website. I was flying high and business could not have been better.

That all started to change in late September when my workload started drying up. By early October, my front door no longer resembled a revolving door. It was more like a steel gate locking people out. Or so, I thought.

Remember my statement, “I didn’t have to market every day, because, by golly, I had work coming in!“? Well, the truth is I didn’t market AT ALL during the slow times or the busy times. No seasoned professional at BoDo, or anywhere for that matter, will tell you that’s a good idea. 

Calling for help, I found myself leaning on business associates and those aforementioned pros. Pros who knew how to work the system and keep gigs coming in.

Thinking that my business was going to collapse in just a few short months of opening full-time, I truly began to panic. I doubted my abilities and my business experience (which was nil to none, by the way). Losing confidence in my abilities, I even thought that maybe people just didn’t like me (crazy, yes?).

Slowly, towards the end of October business started to pick back up. In November we launched the Churubusco Chamber’s website at www.churubuscochamber.org.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt that it was just one of those down times every business experiences and that we were going to be just fine. But, I also knew that not getting “out there” was something I needed to avoid. The trick, it seemed, was crafting a plan and then actually implementing it.

Around this time, I entered my business’ logo into an internationally recognized design competition called The Summit Creative Awards. I shelled out the money for the entry fee and then took my time getting around sending in the entry. So much so, the organization started emailing me asking where my entry was. In a stellar moment of blatant self doubt, I thought, “Oh yeah, that thing. The thing I won’t win because I’m not a super designer. The thing I won’t win because I’m just a dinky little store front copy shop that gets a few gigs here and there.” I finally mustarded up the courage, printed the logo on some high quality photo paper and sent it in.

That logo entry and my business networking was going to start a tidal wave of good things for me at the beginning and end of 2007.

Up next: What it’s like to win awards and feel successful. Then yet again, have business fall flat.

Chris Tomlinson | Designer / Printer
Gonink: Design & Print | Gonink: Blog

Every business goes through its ups and downs. The graphic design business is no different. The best way to survive down times and live life to the fullest is to plan ahead. But, even the best laid plans can get disrupted by unforeseen events. That’s where contingency planning comes into play. They can save your business

In the next five posts I’ll walk you through a real life business situation. Mine. Hopefully you gain insight as to how running your business can be fun, frustrating, scary and enjoyable … all rolled into one.

So, in the immortal words of Glinda, the Good Witch, “It’s always best to start at the beginning.”

In the Spring of 2005, a good friend bought a substantial piece of property which included a large building. The plan was to develop the area into a small shopping complex. You know the type; offices, fast food, etc. For whatever reason that particular project fell through.

He then came to me to see if I would move my graphic design business to his building. My “business” at that time was a haphazard attempt at becoming a full time freelancer, working from home. It’s the way most of us start out. 

Any creative reading this knows the dream of making your own hours, watching the tv while designing this or that, sitting at home amongst all of your amenities and living the “good” life. Some of you might also know that it’s not that easy. A few others might know this kind of “loosy goosy” approach to business is one reason some clients perceive us as unprofessional. It’s also pretty much a sure-fire route to reading the want ads.

After  loads of soul searching, I decided to give it a whirl on a part time basis. As luck would have it, I was sitting pretty. My full time job allowed me to work partial daytime hours. So, in late November 2005, I officially opened Gonink: Design & Print and prepared for an onslaught of work. With a waiting list of work in hand, even before my doors opened, I had lofty hopes of this being a success.

After eight months of almost 18 hour days, seven days a week, I knew something had to give. My body was taking a physical and mental beating from the lack of sleep and increased stress. So, yet again, I was faced with another tough decision – either close down the business, or quit my full time job and go full time with gonink.

To make this daring leap into the business world, I had to dig even deeper to believe in myself and my business. I planned everything out for both general business and marketing. I made sure I had enough money to cover me. I worked out contingency plans if things didn’t go they way I thought. Finally, on June 6, 2006, I made the switch. Later on I joked about how I picked an opening date of 666. But, thankfully, the next 18 months proved that number wrong.

Lessons learned: 

1. Believe in yourself and your abilities
2. Plan your work and work your plan
3. Keep focused

Before you make the leap, be sure you have enough money to cover your business and personal expenses for at least three months. Six is better. A year’s worth is great.

Up next: What it’s like to feel successful and win awards. As well as the gut wrenching anxiety of a business slowdown.

Chris Tomlinson | Designer / Printer
Gonink: Design & Print | Gonink: Blog

So, I think I’ve mentioned this before: I don’t like pink books for “girls”. They bother me. For one, I don’t like pink. Second, I’m not twelve. But I will forgive the Girl’s Guide chicks their magenta book cover both because it’s relatively tasteful in its design, and because the information inside it is so good.

The Girl’s Guide to Kicking Your Career Into Gear by Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio is an excellent collection of interviews, advice, and the authors’ personal experiences. The third book in their “Girl’s Guide” series focuses on your career as a whole, whereas the first two were about starting your own business and being a boss (respectively). They start out with a simple, but important, point: “If you’re not looking out for your career, then no one is.”

Chapters cover where you are now (“You Are Here”) and where you want to be, the “new girl’s network,” change and challenges, and “thinking big.” The section that I found the most helpful, however, was the one on fear. Aside from the usual advice about confronting difficult coworkers, Friedman and Yorio make the observation that owning your success is scary:

“To say the sentence ‘I am successful’ out loud is uncomfortable for most of us. There are several reasons why this is the case. As women, we have been raised never to boast, and downplaying our successes has become a comfortable way to connect with other people. … The key is for all of us is to define our own success.”

They go on to talk about their own experiences in writing their books, and how their decision to think positively and take control really changed their outlook, and attracted more good things to them. It sounds cheesy, but they explain it well, and it really makes sense. As they put it, “When you believe that you are surrounded by idiots and your boss just doesn’t understand how hard you work and that you should work somewhere else but can’t afford to leave your job — then you have accepted that your career is not under your control.” They also talk about gender stereotypes and how to work with them (and break some of them), and handling challenges at work and at home.

The book ends with Part Four, entitled “Think Big”. Part Four discusses the overall picture: what do you want? Is it the corner office? Flex time? A raise? It also talks about getting what you deserve by, oddly enough, asking for it. The section finishes up with a chapter on leadership and delegating (something that many women have a hard time doing). Susan Heathfield, a management consultant, shares her “12 C’s for Effective Team-Building,” and the Guide girls provide “Fifteen Things We Learned From Girls Taking Charge.” Since this book came out fairly recently (January 2008), the ladies are still off on their book tour, but they’ve got some good information on their website, www.girlsguidetobusiness.com, along with a (slightly neglected) blog and calendar.

Though there’s some useful stuff in this book for everyone, women are more likely to enjoy it (for obvious reasons). What I’m finding, though, is that the Girl’s Guides aren’t the stereotypical “grrl power!” pink books, and for that, I give them a lot of credit. It’s hard to strike a balance between good business advice and the specific difficulties women face, but these ladies do an admirable job.

Erin Harris | Visual Communication Designer
erinmharris.com | BoDo Author | Erin Reviews