Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Your PowerPoint Presentations: Smashing Success or Train Wreck?

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Considered the companion of many speakers and the buddy of the board room, PowerPoint has taken the corporate world by storm.

And when done well, that storm has the potential to pack a real punch.

Unfortunately, think Sleepy Hollow meets Donald Trump. PowerPoint has become an office activity that more often than not leaves audiences sweating profusely, fighting off an overwhelming sense of doom.

And sometimes it just puts us to sleep.

Plenty has been written on PowerPoint and how to use it effectively. We’ve seen our share of good and bad PowerPoint presentations, so we’d like to share this video by Don McMillan that demonstrates some hilarious insight how NOT to use this tool.

…BEWARE, you may recognize yourself…

One place you probably never thought to advertise your web developer job ad

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

If you’re advertising a web developer job (nine10 is right now), one place you should post it may be the least obvious: in the source code of your website’s HTML:

PHP Web Developer Job Posting

Viewing the source on nine10.ca reveals our hidden job ad

Being a web developer for years, I know that one of the first things I do when visiting a site I’m interested in is to view the source to see what it was made in. Placing a brief job ad in your comments at the top of the site source is a great way to target other web developers looking for a career!

View Our PHP Web Developer Job Posting

Dear Client: Why Your Logo Costs As Much As It Does

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Logo Design CostThere have been times when we quoted the price of a logo design and the client was shocked. If you’ve been in sales for a while, you’ve surely seen this before: Their eyes open, lips shut, and they become very timid and reserved for the remainder of the meeting.

What went wrong?

Well, first of all, the price we were quoting was well within reasonable industry norms. In fact it was a bargain for the amount of time, effort and skill that goes into the proper design of a logo and supporting files and documentation.

But the client didn’t have the same expectations or experience, and that is totally understandable. They don’t work in our industry, have likely never had a logo designed before, and did not expect it to cost as much as it does. After all, how long does it take to sketch a couple of ideas, right?

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Dear Client: Why We Don’t Create Samples Before Starting a Project

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Meeting RoomA customer calls us, interested in our services. We invite them in to meet with us to discuss their project in more detail. The meeting is fantastic. After an hour of talking about their project and ideas, showing them some of the things we can do, and having a few side-tracked laughs together, we shake hands, and agree to send them a proposal for their project. We quickly get to work preparing a detailed proposal outlining how we are going to solve their problems with our products and services. We send out the proposal, looking forward to a positive response.

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Too Small to Think About Branding? Think Again.

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Often we hear people talking about branding like it’s an esoteric voodoo thing that only Fortune 500 companies can afford to do. Or that small business owners should ignore branding because it costs a lot of money and they need to be focusing on sales and cash flow. Or that you need a big national advertising agency to create a successful brand.

This couldn’t any further from the truth.

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Creative and clever coffee mug designs

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Most people we know love a good cup of joe. So why not make the cup as good as the joe itself? Here are some creative mug designs for you to enjoy!

This would be perfect for those Costco Ginger Snaps… mmm! (more…)