Small Business 101 - Helpful Tips!

So, you've been thinking or dreaming for a long time that you want to own your own business?  You have sketched out your ideas, your visions, a rough draft of your business plan/model, layout of your office, etc.  Some of us just stop there and it is awhile before we can go any further.  Others may have the opportunity to move quickly or have several connections to help them where they need to go.  Regardless, our focus is to start and own our own business, right?  Entrepreneurship!

Well, like all things, everything starts at square 1.  As in our previous post, we discussed how, in the business world, "The elevator is out of order, you have to take the stairs."  We ended that post with starting with "Step #1" and working your way up to however many stairs you need to to reach the top and beyond.  There is no cap-off!  Keep climbing those stairs one by one and be successful at each one along the way.  It is one awesome journey!

I know, myself, I am very laid back and love a great challenge now and then as I also do tech support at home in addition to my other many adventures in business.  I fix and build computers on my own time and am a tech support person for family and friends who just cannot seem to figure out that crazy computer problem or cannot get rid of a bug or virus.  I am working on turning this into a full-time business as well, along with my website design business and try to marry the two together somehow LOL.  I've been doing home tech support, on my own, for about 10 years and website design for about that long too.

I have learned in the beginning though, that a business does not come to you, you have to build it!  Ideas come in, but it is focusing on bringing those ideas to reality and looking at the market to see if there is a need for those ideas!  My specialty is technology, I have loved it since the internet was born!  I guess you can say it is in my blood.  I also love business and work hard every day to accomplish the goals I have had in the works for several years.

I wanted to share a few tips that I have developed and live by as a small business owner.  These are just my own opinions and advice and ideas, but they could help you as well in succeeding with your business.  From one entrepreneur to the other!

Small Business Tips 101 (Working at Home):

1. Give yourself a clean spacious office and be sure to be organized!  I use file folders, cabinets, book shelves, etc to organize my materials.  
2. I am working on this myself, but be sure and have a business phone number for clients to get ahold of you.  I would not recommend your home phone number, but most people use that!  I, myself, am working on a 1-800 dedicated to my business.  
3. Get a P.O. Box for mail purposes.  
4. Schedule your office hours around family time and other times where it might get distracting if you are dealing with your clients, to avoid interruptions.  
5. Get yourself some business cards!  Even working at home, you need a business card.  When you go out for errands, dinner, etc, pass them to friends, strangers, whoever!  Make yourself known!  Some grocery stores and other department stores sometimes have corkboards where you can put your business card to let people know who you are!
6. Advertise!  Use social media to get your name out there!
7. Tell friends and family to spread the word about your business!  What a better way to get your name around, because who knows you better than family and friends, right?

Those are my, what you might call "Lucky 7" tips.  They are simple, nothing formal, but I go by them every day!

In future posts, I will get more down and dirty with business and technology tips that I use and will post some articles from some of my favorite sources.

For those viewers interested in Photography, I will eventually be expanding Twisted Elements Design with Photography :-)  More on that to come....

Until then, design on!
Shannon

Elevator is Out of Order.....Please Take the Stairs!

Have you seen this notice posted on an elevator lately?  I see it every now and then if I am in a shopping mall or some kind of high-rise building.  It is pretty self explanatory when reading it.  Obviously the first thing we think of is, "Ok, the elevator is broken...now what?  Well, most signs will say:  ELEVATOR OUT OF ORDER, PLEASE USE THE STAIRS.  Now, in real life when encountering this sign, of course that's what we would need to do in order to get to our intended destination, right?  Well in the business world, this has a whole new meaning!

We have all been taught in some way or another to take "baby steps" in order to accomplish something.  Whether it would be a small task, a rough task, perhaps an exam at school, dealing with a divorce, planning a vacation, etc.  All of these and more we have to take "baby steps", meaning one thing at a time to make sure we cover our bases and don't forget anything.  Life does not do the work for you, you have to build life and continue completing the construction.  As you build your life, you learn many things.  You build relationships, you build families, you build a lifestyle.  An elevator in life would be too easy and too fast.  It would get you where you needed to be in just one click with no effort on your part, whatsoever.  If real life really worked this way, well......maybe it would be a good thing, but would we REALLY want it that way?  When you work hard for something, you appreciate it more and more knowing YOU did it!

In the business world, it works the same way.  A business does not build itself.  You have to build it from scratch with an idea, a concept, money, a good infrastructure, employees, etc.  All of that takes hard and dedicated work!

Read the above graphic to yourself several times.  Think about it and apply it to yourself and/or your business.  What does it mean to you?  I define it as not to expect a fast ride to the top to make you feel like you succeeded overnight, it just doesn't happen!  You have to take the stairs!  Success is not going into a compartment, the door closing and you choosing the right button and within a few seconds, your work is done!  Your elevator is out of order.....take the stairs!!  

If your success is 700 stairs to the top, start at #1......the rest will follow! 

Until then, design on!

Shannon

Dreams and Success

I had a lot of dreams when I was a kid.  Dreams about being a veterinarian, flight attendant....many things!  But hey, everything sounds good when you're a kid, right?  As I got older, my dreams dwindled to more direct visions such as an artist, teacher, etc.  When the 90's hit and I was in my 20's, the Internet was born.  A few years after that, when websites and the Internet became a phenomenon, my dreams changed even more.  I realized I could expand my art expertise and designing expertise to reach more people very quickly.  When I purchased Photoshop and Illustrator, things really started taking off when I was getting orders for flyers, T-shirt designs, graphics, pamphlets, brochures, etc.  I knew I was onto something.  I enhanced my learning by taking 2 years of graphic design courses at my local college. 

After hard work and lots of dedication, I knew my longtime dream was hidden in my mind my entire life.  It was to create and design anything to help someone else.  I am a lifetime artist of many mediums.  With today's technology world, so much is online and 7 years ago, I knew I wanted to do graphic/web design and eventually grow my own business, create jobs and help other businesses stand out amongst the competition.  I imagined seeing my art on their logos, their business cards, their websites, their buildings, etc.  The possibilities are endless!  Everything is online and millions browse the web every hour, every day, every month, every year.  It will only get better and more advanced, so why not be different amongst the rest of the competition out there?

In the summer of 2013, I put all of my notes, drawings, plans, models, etc to work and my home business is now taking shape and live!  

A business is never complete - The road to success is always under construction!!  You have to build it and build it and build it and the success will come!  

Think to yourself, what were your dreams when you were young?  Did you accomplish or succeed in them to this day?  Was there something better?  

Success is defined as the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame.  Sounds awesome right?  Well between a dream and success is a long road!  You really have to put your mind at it to m make it work.

Factors that I follow religiously are:

• Patience.
• Dedication.
• Passion.
• Organization.
• Communication.
• Research.
• Creativity.
• Thinking outside the box.

I will discuss these in later blogs, but just to give a little picture of how I think in order to become successful.

Think hard.  Work hard.  Play hard.

You will succeed!!

Until then, design on!
Shannon

Getting Colorful With Adobe Kuler!

One of the most important things about working as an artist/designer or any occupation for that matter is dealing with COLOR!  It applies to all of us!  Whether you are choosing clothing, paint colors for your house, colors for cars, paintings, iPhone covers, you name it -- it has color!  We all have a particular color we like whether it is blue, green, red, yellow or if you get more direct - magenta, royal purple, teal, etc.  Choosing colors can be very overwhelming at times mostly because a lot of colors appeal to us and most colors look great in what we are choosing them for!

When I was in graphic design school a few years ago, we were introduced to the new iMac computers when they first came out.  We also were introduced to the new Photoshop and Illustrator programs.  Back before this, you had to look for HEX codes on the internet.  A hex code is a series of 6 numbers/letters assigned to a specific color.  For example a shade of GREEN may have the code #66cc00 for a more neon colored.  There are hundreds if not thousands of shades of each color. 

In graphic and web design we assign HEX codes into our HTML so the computer and program you are coding within knows exactly which color you are wanting.  With logos, whatever software program is used for designing the logo, you also need to assign a HEX code to your specific color. 

Just like an artist's palette, you mix colors to make other colors, but in this case, there is no HEX code to be applied.  Experienced artists know which colors make which shades they need.

With web and graphic design, a very helpful tool I was introduced to about 5 years ago was Adobe Kuler.  Over the years, this program has been updated in many ways for the better!  They recently came out with the mobile version as well, which is very cool!

Adobe Kuler is a program where the user can create an account and create color palettes for different themes.  The mobile version above has an illustration of how the color finder on the software creates palettes for you and you can be anywhere!  If you are sitting in your office and turn on the application, it can create several palettes just from the colors in your office.  Use it on your walk, trip, bedroom, garden, mall, etc.  Anyplace you see awesome colors, turn on your application and see what you can create!  You have the option of taking a screenshot of your palette to save for later and by hitting the information buttons provided next to each palette, it will provide sliding guides if you wish to alter it a little and it also provides the HEX codes to each color.

The website version is much the same, however, in this case YOU create the palettes by clicking on the color wheel.  You can also browse palettes other users have posted for inspiration and HEX codes for reference.

As a graphic/web designer/artist, I refer my clients to this application to get a good vision of what colors they are looking for for their designs.  We can also create palettes for our customers for their approval on designs we are providing for them.  Each project we do, we think, visualize, brainstorm and research with the utmost passion.  We want our clients to stand out amongst the rest!  

If you have any questions regarding Adobe Kuler or are interested in any of our products, please send us an e-mail on our website in the Contact Us section and we will be more than happy to assist you!

We look forward to helping brand and accent your business!  We are going to be putting some economy and limited edition website templates on our site very soon, so please check back for updates!

Until then, design on!

Shannon

Chill Out!

So, with the temperatures in the cool zone in most of the country after the passing of the Polar Vortex, we decided to have a "Chill Out" deal!  This fit appropriately with the subject :-)  By purchasing a custom logo, you will receive 250 custom business cards!  Not a bad deal huh?  We like to theme our deals to either something with the weather, crazy news, charitable causes, something cool and funky to attribute them too to make them more fun!  Notice I am even writing in BLUE today!  LOL  So you can "chill out" with our deal until January 31st.  If you know of any business owners who need a logo makeover or any start-up owners thinking about or needing a logo, be sure and send them our way!  In the near future, we will be looking for designers to join our team so keep checking back for updates!  

We were proud to see our Facebook Page surpass 150 LIKES!  That is so awesome!  We love new visitors and new followers!

We are working on another deal for this week that is charity themed.  We support several charities that can be found on our website - Our Charities.

Back to our custom logos, they are very simple to order and the process is simple to go through.  We ask that you have some idea in mind of what you would like in your logo such as colors, font styles, etc.  This gives us a better understanding so we know which direction to focus our creative minds on!

We are very passionate about what we do and we have lots in the works coming as well as new lines of products!

2014 will be a great year for us!

Until then, design on!
Shannon

Welcome to Getting Twisted!

Well, we finally got the Blog up and going!  Our design will look much better soon as we are putting the finishing touches on it!  So, how many of you are business owners?  I have worked with lots of business owners myself ranging from small at-home business to large corporations.  I can tell you, you learn a lot in this field!  No 2 people are alike and no 2 businesses are alike.  I've seen so many creative ideas out there that people have come up with and have made successful businesses out of their ideas.  Of course, I have seen many fail as well too.  But, I see failure as another starting point, kind of like a phoenix.  It just means, hey, maybe the idea didn't work out or maybe someone else knocked it off and created something better.  In these cases, if you do some things differently or enhance other things, it does differentiate your business from others.  It's the figuring out that takes the most time. 

We put a lot of passion and thought into our business and we believe those are THE most important ingredients in helping brand a business.  Some websites offer a "cookie cutter" type option which basically means here are the parts, the choices...pick what you want and put it together yourself in minutes.  Sure, it's fast, it's cheap and you don't need much knowledge to do it.  BUT....is it REALLY what you wanted?  Does it look cheap?  Will it attract customers?  Have you asked others to check it out to see if they would shop from your website?  If most of the answers are "No", then it's time to have a professional really take it to the next level and make it how you want it!  This does not apply to just custom websites, it applies to your logo, your displays, your products, your business cards, etc.  Everything has some meaning.  If you have a physical location, customers look to see if it is attractive, appealing, some place they want to stay for awhile to look around....think about it!  If you have an online business, same thing applies.  Make it clean, neat, appealing that a customer will check it out!

Getting Twisted is what's it's all about - thinking outside the box, getting down and dirty, getting your feet wet! 

We are expanding our business into more and more things and the future rolls closer.  You might see us with web hosting service, rubber stamps and more surprises.  When people order our products, we get some that say, "Hey, have you thought about creating this or that?"  We take all ideas into consideration.  Those that are feasible, we may be able to offer.  We are also working on a separate website for Twisted Elements Photography, in which we will offer photos and other accessories for sale.  Lots coming!

We are excited to have you as one of our Blog readers and please follow us if you would like to keep up with us and what is in the works!

Design on!
Shannon