Recently I read about a coupon that could be downloaded from a company’s Facebook fan page. Since I suffer from a  “keeping up with the Jones” mentality when it comes to technology, I wanted to distribute coupons, too.

After doing some research, I discovered Wildfire Promotion Builder, an easy-to-use web application that allows designers to create interactive Facebook campaigns. To add to my excitement, I learned that it was much more than coupons—it was also contests and sweepstakes! My head began to spin…the more I learned, the more I had to have it, both to draw traffic to my Facebook fan page and to offer promotions via Facebook to my clients.

I signed up for the free version and installed it onto my fan page. Now I had it and victory was mine! What to do, what to do… I know—what better way to work out all the kinks than to take it for a test drive? Thus, the “Komjati Design FRESH CASH Giveway” was born.

Today is the third day of the sweepstakes and it has had a few touch-and-go moments. Moments that made me glad it was my own personal project. Like the first day when the Promotions tab completely disappeared from my fan page. I removed the Boxes tab, posted the promotion again and all was right in my world, whew!

She’s fresh —

fresh – exciting…

she’s so exciting to me!

She’s fresh —

fresh – exciting…

she’s so inviting to me.

These pop lyrics from the hit song Fresh helped Kool and the Gang top the music charts in the ’80s. Apply the Fresh concept to your advertising and marketing campaigns today and watch your sales soar.

Fresh and exciting advertising attracts new customers and helps to retain the old. When was the last time you took a good, hard, unbiased look at your company’s promotional materials? What worked four years ago may look old and out-dated today. The world is moving fast and your customers need to feel that they are doing business with a company that is on the cutting edge. Show them you are — keep your materials updated using the latest colors, design techniques and fonts or create a social media campaign.

Nothing new to promote? That’s no reason to be dull and boring which in today’s economy could be translated into a company in trouble. Use new photos, liven up the text and change the size of your company brochure. Keep in step with the times by keeping your company image current and something new will begin to happen. Employees will have renewed energy and enthusiasm for their work, sales people will have something Fresh to show their prospects and your business will grow and thrive.

Yesterday I received an email that pushed me right over the edge. It was a request for help in creating a website and included the line “I know it’s easy, but I just don’t have the time to learn how to do it”. Well, does learning how to play the piano make you a concert pianist? It’s the person playing the piano—not the piano—that makes the music great and the playing of  it seem easy. It is also the same way with a designer and the designer’s computer system. 

I guess I’m partly to blame for this all-to-common misunderstanding of the computers role in advertising. Twenty years ago we were working with T-squares and triangles on drawing boards, spec’ing type and doing other creative jobs by hand. When we first heard about the computer we thought it would give us more time to be creative so we all wanted one. In order to get a computer we had to first convince our boss to shell out the big bucks. We eagerly explained to him how a computer would make our work easier and in turn we could work faster and save the company money. This pleased the boss and he bought us computers.

Soon every designer had a computer. The boss, seeing that we also had a keyboard, handed over the job of the professionally trained typesetter to us, plus many copywriting and proofreading assignments. Wow, this computer really was saving the company money—they no longer needed typesetters or proofreaders. Both the boss and his boss were pleased.

The computer could also handle production work so the production department was the next to go. Designers had to learn technical production skills and shoulder the additional responsibilities of an entire department. Crunch-time changes? No problem, designers could do this too. With our speedy computers, we could also handle more work—our workload increased and turnaround times were shortened. All these improvements in productivity pleased upper management.

Today, ineffective advertising is everywhere, much of it created by secretaries and students who know the software programs and are cheap labor. What are the designers doing? Typesetting, copywriting, proofreading, retouching photos, production and most of all—still wishing they had more time to be creative.

Not every business can afford a big-name advertising agency but not all businesses need one. If you have professional designers on your team consider yourself lucky. Take them to lunch and ask them if they need supplies, computer upgrades or training. They will love you for it and reward you with quality work done in a timely manner. I am always amazed when I learn of large creative departments that don’t have the basic tools they need to function efficiently.

If you don’t have a creative department of your own—freelance creative directors (like me), designers, copywriters and photographers can be found through advertising clubs and associations. Professional freelancers aren’t cheap but they cost much less than an advertising agency. As a matter of fact, many freelancers have ad agencies as clients. 

Here are five tips to help save time and money when working with your creative team. Inhouse, freelance or agency, these tips will keep the creative process flowing smoothly.

1. Involve the designer in your project from the start. This will give them valuable insight into your goals. The designer may even be able to suggest alternative ways to meet those goals that can save money on paper, printing and mailing.
2. Always provide correct information to the designer. Revisions caused by wrong information are a complete waste of time and money and happen all the time.
3. Involve as few people as possible in the approval process. Office and family politics often play a very expensive role in which everyone suffers, including the final product and budget.
4. Allow time for production. Designers all too often hear “it’s approved, send it to the printer NOW because they’re waiting.” The digital proof used for the approval process can’t be used for professional printing. A new file must be created and this can sometimes be very time consuming because it involves specialized knowledge of the production and printing process. This process varies with every print job and from printer to printer. Rushing here causes mistakes that result in the job having to be reprinted at an additional cost. 
5. Check with the post office during the design process or sooner about mailing rules, regulations and costs. If the direct mail piece needs to be hand-sorted because it was designed with the fold on the wrong side, there will be an additional cost for each piece. Iron out these costly details before it’s printed.

Businesses that stop advertising during slow periods allow their competitors advertising to have greater visibility. Prices have been reduced recently on advertising space, why not ask your print sales reps about these discounts? With a little planning, communication and the right team, you really can afford to advertise.

I’ve lost count of the number of times that I have been out walking my dog and people have stopped me and asked for directions to the old Chippewa Lake Park. The amusement park operated from 1878 through 1978 when it was closed for lack of attendance, so they say. As a local, I have heard rumors of other reasons why it closed but that’s of no consequence now. Chippewa Lake Park has stood forgotten for 31 years, many rides frozen in time exactly as they were on that final day. 

Most of the curious drivers looking for the park are over the age of 50 and have a few quick memories of the park to share with me from their car windows. Having been raised in Medina County and now living and working here at the lake I have my share of these memories too. Dad worked at Ford Motors in Cleveland and they had their yearly company picnic at “Chip”. Mom worked at Medina’s National Disposal and they had theirs here, too. It was THE place to go.

Growing up, Mom was always telling me stories of living here when I was 6-months-old. She worked at the park for 75 cents an hour selling tickets to ride the Caterpillar and about Nickel Day, when admittance was only 5 cents. Now I’ve lived here for 10 years and my husband for almost 30. We’ve hiked the overgrown trails and picked blackberries on the abandoned park land. Like our neighbors, we have a passion for the area.

Recently I’ve been asked how I feel about the old park being sold. In 2008, Chippewa Partners LLC purchased the land and plan on turning it into a massive resort called “Chippewa Landing”. The $100 million proposed development will include a hotel, spa, five-star restaurant, theater and Biltmore-style manor house. I tell friends that I’ve taken a “wait-and-see” attitude especially since I’ve read that as many as 300 full-time jobs could be created. That would be a great thing for this area and our economy. As I get older, I am learning that change comes whether you like it or not and sometimes, looking back, things really are better. I’ll just have to wait and see.

Chippewa Partners deserves kudos for ingenious public relations work for opening the park to visitors on the weekends. Kids have been sneaking in there for years. Adults like myself who knew the danger, now get to go in and safely see everything. Check out my pictures taken in April 2009 on my Facebook fan page and become a fan of Komjati Design, Inc., too.

Last summer a horror movie was filmed in the old park and it is due to be released this year sometime. Check out the movie trailer for “Closed For The Season”. You’ll recognize lots of scenes of areas that are also in my photos.