Times like these require different strategies to keep your clients thinking about you. Jim Hance Graphic Communications can help with design for special promotions.

Just when things look worst, the smart guys are buying stock. And smart business people are promoting more aggressively to new customers with special needs at times like these.

Some promotions to consider: Printed and emailed newsletters. Free sample coupon. Sale banners. Newspaper and trade publication advertising. New Website for your product or service. Redesigned PowerPoint presentation with extra emphasis on much needed services. Targeted direct mail appeals to potential clients. Search engine optimization for your Website to ensue you’re coming up in Google searches. Coop advertising with other businesses. 

We will get through this setback as we always have. In the meanwhile, it’s time to keep promoting our businesses. As they say, “the strong survive.”

I was reading a blog by Ian Whitworth about business jargon, and how it is important to pay attention to when we use it. Jargon and industry-specific terminology helps us communicate freely and quickly with people who speak our language, but hinders us from being understood by people who don’t.

Are you multilingual?  You have to be to stay in business.

In my business I speak HTML, CSS, Javascript, Flash, blog, and animated GIF. Also ROI, sales points, call to action, teaser, fog quotient, inverted paramid, Chicago style, and snipe.  Also, cost per thousand, bleed marks, parent sheet size, press size, dpi, vector art, trapping, stuffit compression, color mode, visible layers, and color correction. Also paragraph styles, font metrics, sans serif, grunge, display type, dingbats, postscript and image quality.

When I work with clients, I try to speak their language.  In the travel trade, you might hear something like, “We’ve got 250 VIPs coming on AA from LAX. We did a deal with SDCVB at PCMA to keep their ADR at $750.”

Speaking the jargon fluently is like a secret handshake that admits you to the club.That’s why most industries hold an annual convention, so people can cluster around the bar happily chatting in fluent industry-speak. Because if you belong to, say, the Asphalt Pavement Association (Official motto: ‘There’s a lot more to asphalt than meets the eye’), there’s nothing better than some quality time with others who share your black, sticky passion. They never tire of hearing about it, unlike your friends and family.

While speaking your own industry jargon is the natural thing to do when you are among your industry colleagues, be sure to learn and demonstrate your knowledge of other people’s industries by using their industry terminology. If you are speaking with a potential or new client in an industry with which you are relatively unfamiliar, you might take time to get to know their language, jargon and buzzwords, and use them when you can. You are on “the team” when you can speak their language. No matter what your field of expertise, clients and others you seek to impress are much more likely to listen to your suggestions if you can put them in terms they understand. 

Your value as a business person just went up when you become “multilingual.”

My wife, Jane, does shortrun sewing projects, and developed her own adjustable “dress forms” for sizing garments. A dress form can be male (as shown) or female, and is used for pinning garments as they are being sized. She purchased a “mannikin” (a form they use in retail store displays) and added to it layers of fabric and batting to create a single dress form which can be “enlarged” from small, to medium, to large, and extra large sizes. As you can see from the photo on the right, she has marked the measurements directly to the fabric layer. Additional pieces can be added for extra large neck, etc. Contact Jane directly at 619-203-1922 if interested in knowing more about her adjustable dress form invention.

“And thank you for your hard work on this. We really appreciate it, and love what you’ve done. We looking forward to continuing to work with you if you’ll have us!” — Claire L., Sr. Market Advisor, SDG&E

“Jim, I wanted to tell you that I love the site. It looks great and it’s what I envisioned before we started. Thank you for your efforts. … Thank you again for doing my site and at a reasonable cost. Another company wanted [4x as much] to do it, and their samples weren’t as impressive as yours. You gained my referral business…no doubt.” Regards, Ryan H

“Jim Hance produces website magic! He has created two websites for me now, and each one has received praise from those who visit the sites. He is a talented technician, and very creative with his work. Much appreciation, Jim, you have indeed improved my image!”
— Marcy from Oceanside, CA, and Vail, CO

“It looks absolutely georgeous. You must be a white wizard. What a treat for the eyes.” — Leah F., Exhibition Director

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! It’s a vision come to fruition. It’s my dream for Huntley Wealth, ‘Plan Now, Live Forever,’ made into reality.
You’re the best.” — Chris Huntley

“Thanks, Jim! This is one neat website. More stuff on here than on most and really accessible. )) Pretty too! )))” Hugs…Betty

A totally redesigned wowpromotions.com Website went “live” the first of July, and features new resources which I don’t believe are available on any other Website. To make finding my work easier, I have created ten “galleries” or categories of work accessible directly from the home page. These categories include Web design, brochures, presentations, custom graphics, announcements, publications, advertising, corporate communications, special events and marketing promotions. You can view San Diego photography on this Website. Currently photography by Joanne DiBona is featured, and several other photographers are in the process of providing similar photography. If you need San Diego-specific photography, check out this section of the Website. A new Site Map is provided, so visitors can easily find what’s available. I have a new blog which starts on the home page, and continues on the “blog page.” If you subscribe to my blog, you will be alerted when new stories appear on the blog pages. I will provide new information at least once a week. Stumped for an idea to get your sales and marketing effort started? Check out the Promotional Ideas page accessible from the main navigation bar. And if you have a marketing project in the works, check out my Client Questionnaire, where there are a series of questions aimed at getting your project off on the right foot. I have four new URLs which act as “portals” to wowpromotions.com. They include: Link 1; Link 2; Link 3; Link 4. Each address provides a different “advertisement” or teaser for visiting my site. I have a link to my LinkedIn profile right on the main navigation. And last, but not least, you can get a quick look at the dance scene in San Diego from my Dance Links page, where I am maintaining a calendar of dance relating events and happenings which are of interest to me. I don’t cover ballroom, salsa or all of the folk dancing opportunities in San Diego, but you will find a nice list of swing, hustle, zydeco and country. By the way, local world champions Ronnie and Brandi will be appearing on “So You Think You Can Dance” Wednesday evening teaching one of the couples correography for their performance. Check it out!