InSights Group

Graphic Design Boot Camp Offered in Brighton, MI

Sandi Maki — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:37:04 +0000

After the success of last month’s Chamber lunch and learn, I will be hosting an additional session of the graphic design bootcamp for anyone who was not able to attend. If you put together your own marketing or business materials, this free, interactive seminar is a must!

Designed to give non-graphic designers tools and basic design principles to make your marketing materials more attractive and professional, this seminar will cover layout, font choice, image formatting, branding, target market and copyright.

Those attending will have the opportunity to receive tips on one of their own marketing pieces. Materials can be emailed to me at rebecca@greenottergraphics.com, or feel free to bring them to the seminar.

When: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 6-8 PM

Where: Insights Group, 7187 Grand River, Brighton

Visit www.graphicdesignbootcamp.eventbrite.com to register, or email rebecca@greenottergraphics.com.

I hope to see you there!

Rebecca Osterman

Green Otter Graphics

www.greenottergraphics.com

734-678-9781

Are you thinking fresh?

Allan Curtis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:32:33 +0000

I had a conversation yesterday with a guy that is starting a consulting business in the world of marketing. In this conversation, he explained that social media was the 8th pillar in his program. I was a bit surprised at the old school thinking. 8th? Not 1st?
I guess old dogs just don’t want to learn new tricks even if they can! What advise would you have given?

What does online conversation have to do with marketing my business?

Sandi Maki — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:45:01 +0000

Social media is a way that we can talk to our clients and customers. We can also talk with our friends. While we are having these conversations online, while people are talking about us, they are spreading the message about who we are, what we do and how they can do business with us.

Instead of the traditional methods of businesses talking at people, social media is a way for businesses to talk with people having those conversations.

Just think, is it more impactful if your best friend recommends a product or service to you, because they’ve tried it and they say you just have to try this? Or is it more impactful if the salesperson at the store tells you that this is what you should be buying? I would tend to go with a recommendation of my friend and family over that of a salesperson. There are certain times of course when the expertise of a salesperson is needed. But to get your foot in the door and to get you into that store, oftentimes it’s the recommendation of the people that you know, love, and trust.

*from Social Media Explained with Sandi Maki and Allan Curtis

Marketing and Sales. Are you covering all the bases?

Sandi Maki — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:25:11 +0000

I ran across this interesting article yesterday, 3 Things that Get in the Way of a Great Sales Process, thanks Kaya Singer. I really like what the article has to say because these are three things that do get into people’s way.

When you are creating relationships, think marketing. Leave price and your ask out of the delivery. Ask questions, Listen. When someone is ready they will give you cues to take it further. Marketing is where you create the relationship and find out if there is a chance to move into sales or a client relationship. So forget about the money, forget about the over delivery, and don’t be afraid.

Market first, and then refer to Kaya’s article for the next steps.

Hope for Autism Run in Progress, nearing our goal!

Sandi Maki — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:22:41 +0000

So the Hope for Autism Marathon is now live and in progress! Al’s goal for raising money for the cause is $1000, and he currently has pledges and donations totalling $847! Sponsor each mile, or donate a set amount. Anything you can do to help the cause is greatly appreciated!

Donate Here!

Here’s some video footage from the first three who started the run this morning (Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 9am)

First Annual
Hope for Autism
Marathon/Fun Run
Sponsored by the Insights Group
What: Marathon to help local children affected by autism
When: Friday, November 6, 2009 starting at 9:00 AM
Where: Insights Group, 7187 Gr. River, Brighton, MI 48116
Registration Fee: $10.00 per participant
Marathon Length: 26.2 mile course. No need to do entire course.
Contact information: www.hopeforautismmi.wordpress.com
Marcy Hornsby-Mohr @ 810.227.2954
Lisa Follmer-Gagnon @ 248-561-4432
The Hope for Autism Foundation …
building a brighter future for our children.

How do you stay visible to your network?

Sandi Maki — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:59:01 +0000

More on staying visible to your network, thanks Terry Bean of Motor City Connect:

“It’s important to recognize that everyone in your network needs to hear from you. What’s dynamic about that is the frequency with which you communicate with them. Sometimes it depends on projects or workload. Other times it depends on how much you like one another.

There are people in your network that you need to communicate with almost daily. There are others that as long as you touch base with them semi-annually, you can keep a relationship strong. In either scenario, you need to have a plan on how to reach out to them.

The simplest and most effective way is to pick up the phone and make a call. Depending on how often you touch base, that may be time consuming. Certainly there are people with whom you love to speak. But you know any conversation with them is 30 minutes at least. What if you don’t have that kind of time?

A sure fire way to stay on people’s radar while adding value to them is to send them information that they will find useful. Everyone loves receiving mail that isn’t a bill. Think about clipping a magazine or newspaper article, sticking it in an envelope and actually mailing it to your colleague. Trust me when I tell you they will be blown away by the gesture.

A much faster way to achieve a similar effect is to email articles or links to people. While this lacks the mail feel, it still
demonstrates caring and people will greatly appreciate your showing interest.

In addition to things you have read, be sure to tell your network
about events you think they will enjoy. Keeping them in the loop will benefit them, but if they attend events where you are, they may be just the person you need to introduce you to your next big opportunity.

How do you determine how often to communicate with folks and how do you reach out to them?”

Click here for the original posting

Terry Bean explains how to stay visible to your network

Sandi Maki — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:17:48 +0000

Click here for more about Terry

Al is running for Autism on Friday. Your donations for this awesome cause are welcome!

Sandi Maki — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:51:57 +0000

Hope for Autism First Annual Marathon/Fun Run

Friday, November 6th, 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join Al Curtis in supporting Hope for Autism as he runs 26.2 Miles on Friday, November 6th First Annual Hope for Autism Marathon/Fun Run

Sponsored by the Insights Group
What: Marathon to help local children affected by autism
When: Friday, November 6, 2009 starting at 9:30 AM
Where: Beginning and Ending at the Insights Group,7187 Gr. River, Brighton, MI 48116 Registration Fee: $10.00 per participant Marathon Length: 26.2 mile course. No need to do entire course.
Contact information: www.hopeforautismmi.wordpress.com
Marcy Hornsby-Mohr @ 810.227.2954 or Lisa Follmer-Gagnon @ 248-561-4432
The Hope for Autism Foundation …
building a brighter future for our children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your donations are welcome. Sponsor each mile, or donate a set amount. Anything you can do to help the cause is greatly appreciated!

Donate Here!

Do you blog or leave comments on blogs? Get your Gravatar!

Sandi Maki — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:33:26 +0000

You’ll need to sign up at http://www.gravatar.com with the email address that primarily use, and upload you image to gravatar.com. After you’ve done that your gravatar.com image will appear whenever you post on your own blog or on other Wordpress blogs (if you put that email address into the mail field of the comment form at that other blog).

Make sure people can see who you are. Get your Gravatar!

A Lifelong Journey of Learning

Sarah Worsham — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:55:31 +0000

Technology changes very quickly. How we use technology also changes and evolves. Helping people and businesses figure out how to use technology (social media, websites, the Internet, etc.) requires keeping up with all these changes. I’m constantly reading, listening and learning.

Even if you’re not in a field or industry that changes so quickly, we all have something to learn from each other. Maybe it’s a new way to present your ideas. Or ideas on how to improve your product or service. Talking to a variety of people and listening to what they say can be invaluable for increasing your own knowledge, expertise and effectiveness.

When you try to explain what you do to a new client, they’ll probably ask a lot of questions. These questions can give you insight in what additional information you can provide to other potential clients. Or if you’re at a networking event and you give your elevator pitch and get some confused looks, you might get some feedback on how to improve it.

You may work at the same thing your entire life, but someday you’ll retire. What will you do with your time? Hopefully you’ll be able to pick up some hobbies that you’ve put on the back-burner or some new things that have always interested you. Still learning. And those of us with kids know that we learn something just about every day from how our kids view the world, interact with us and each other, and the questions they ask.

One of the things I love about what I do is all the people I get to learn from every day. You can learn something from just about anyone you talk to (even if its just something about yourself). It’s one of the reasons I enjoy doing workshops - to learn how people view the concepts I’m presenting - where they have questions, what questions they bring up, their comments, etc. - how I can improve.

The world is a fascinating place filled with intriguing people doing interesting things. How do you learn from others? How do you apply that learning?

This is a guest post by Sarah Worsham, CEO & Web Strategist at Sazbean Consulting and blogging at Sazbean.com. Sarah is passionate about creating Internet strategies to help companies reach their business goals. Sarah provides guidance through Internet Marketing, Strategy & Business consulting. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook or the Sazbean Facebook Page.