I saw a movie, “It Might Get Loud,” which just came out this weekend which you may enjoy. It is a documentary on three guitarists, Jimmy Page, Edge and Jack White,  and their influences as developing musicians, their motivations, and the particular guitar techniques which each developed to build the type of sound they were after. Even if you think you know these particular artists through their music in Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, U2 and White Stripes, you will learn something you didn’t know about the passion each has in common, and the “inside story” behind their bands and specific songs. You get the chance to see the three developing a rapport with one another, and performing one another’s music together. You will probably leave the theatre, as I did, being a bigger fan of each.

The movie is currently playing at the Hillcrest Cinema in San Diego. Link to information: http://www.itmightgetloudmovie.com

“It’s true. The early bird gets the worm. So does the late bird, and the bird in-between. Because by design, there are always more than enough worms. In fact, the only bird that doesn’t get a worm is the bird that doesn’t go out to get one.”
— Mike Dooley

When you hear about a company or organization which needs someone to design, edit and produce sales and marketing materials, please refer them to Jim Hance. Here is a brief list of projects I produce. (There are more!)

• Product Catalogs

• Newsletters

• Hotel and Resort Collateral

• Posters, Brochures and Show Catalogs

• Presentations and Proposals

• Special Event Invitations

• Maps, Logos, and Custom Graphics

• Membership and Sponsorship Appeals

• Public Affairs Communications

• Email Blasts

• Websites

Brochure Available

The printed brochure is still a source of good information for purchasers and decision makers. Give me a call at 619-203-0522 if you would like to receive a brochure on the services of Jim Hance Graphic Communications, or email me at j-hance@wowpromotions.com.

Retail businesses can get a whole lot more from a computer system than a spreadsheet. San Diego-based Rapid POS provides computer systems which provide control and cost savings to most aspects of the retail business including: cash register functions, inventory control, purchasing and receiving, price labeling, accounting, and e-commerce Web sites, all which can be dynamically updated with the flow of sales, inventory and price changes.

Retail businesses lose a lot of profitable sales due to mis-labeling, lack of inventory, improper staffing throughout the day, not keeping available product listed or promoted on their e-commerce Web site, or insufficient data on what is selling different days of the week. Rapid POS helps business owners manage all of those factors, and the difference can make the business far more profitable, especially for businesses with thin profit margins.

Rapid POS can provide innovative technology to business functions you may not have thought about. I recently designed graphics for a touch-screen customer sign-in system for a hair and skin salon in Las Vegas for Rapid POS. The touch-screen monitor stationed near the front door allows patrons to sign in, select a hair or skin “artist,” and register as a “member” with phone and email information. This technology is pretty “cool.”

Give me a call at 619-203-0522 if you would like to be introduced to Bart, Kyle and Matt
at Rapid POS.

One of my clients, a government contractor, has been awarded $750 million in government contracts this year with the proposals and presentations I designed. A typical proposal requires two or more binders of information covering every aspect of the proposed work including a thorough description of the scope of work, a plan for implementation, specific design approach to solving problems inherent in the work, description of the team of individuals responsible for each part of the work, description of previous experience which qualifies the team to undertake this project, and tables for all costs involved.

Well-designed proposals which feature a comprehensive assessment of the proposed project with graphics which visually support the company’s credibility are required in getting a large contract award. How well the proposal information is presented is viewed as an indication of how well the company can follow through with the actual work, even if that work may be about moving dirt or building a runway. Several copies of this set of information are delivered to the contracting agency in advance of the due date so that various decision makers each get their own copy. For one proposal project, I produced a total of 108 binders of information (54 were delivered in cartons to the agency, and a duplicate set of 54 were available to express ship in case the first set is lost in transit).

After the proposals are reviewed, my client has hopefully been selected to present an oral presentation in person to the agency. For that, I produce PowerPoint presentations, or printed marketing collateral which can be left with the interviewers to help sell the company after the interview. So far 2009 has been a successful year for my client, with the potential of adding to the list of contracts they have won.

Some companies have their own staff of engineers, designers and editors to prepare their proposals, presentations and marketing materials. I am available on a freelance basis to contractors who need to outsource their proposal design services. Call Jim Hance at 619-203-0522 to discuss your proposal project and needs.

I have belonged to a business networking group for about three years which meets in La Mesa, CA. The benefit to small companies of belonging to a business network is the opportunity to get business referrals from other companies as though they are your sales force. This works best when you are not in competition with a similar company in the network, and your network includes companies which naturally receive a volume of business which they can refer to you. Within our network I have a team which includes a printer and an IT specialist. There are other companies in the network, but most of our business network referrals come from one another. The three of us constitute a “marketing power team.”

We would very much like to add the following companies to our marketing power team: a sign company, an advertising specialties company, an SEO specialist, a Web developer, a product photographer, and an event planner. These are the types of companies and business people with whom we can immediately share business. Other members of our chapter have other power groups, and would welcome a chiropractor, a florist, a handyman, a painter, a plumber and a trust attorney. Anyone interested in visiting our Wealth Builders business network can call me at 619-203-0522, or visit our Website at www.bniwealthbuilders.com.

Cool is a slang term with a host of meanings, and which spans generations, and which has found its way into other languages besides English. In general it means being or acting “in control.” Cool describes composure and absence of excitement during times of stress, as in “keeping your cool.” Cool is an attitude of self-assurance, calm, self-control, aplomb.

Cool was the cultural aesthetic of the beebop jazz musicians and the “Beat Generation” of anticonformists of the 40s and 50s. Cool jazz emphasized a restrained, laid-back solo style, and cool jazz was heralded in on Miles Davis’ 1950 album entitled “Birth of the Cool,” and further interpreted by many musicians such as Lester Young, Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, and Dave Brubeck.

Cool has become the central ideology of consumer capitalism. Technology can be cool. Journalist Douglas McGray coined the term “gross national cool” to describe the cultural and economic powerhouse, Japan, with its emerging dominance in the area of consumer electronics. In terms of marketing and popular culture, cool is whatever is fashionable and attractive at the time.

According to some, the act of discovering what’s cool is what causes cool to move on; cool cannot be manufactured, only observed; and cool can only be observed by those who are themselves cool. Some things do get manufactured and seem to hang onto the moniker of cool with the general public, but owning those things doesn’t necessarily make you cool.

Most people seem to use cool as an expression of delight and contentment with something good which has happened. Something new and intriguing. Something intelligently crafted. Something with superior functionality. Or something masterfully composed or performed. Something just encountered by good fortune. Be cool, and find good fortune.

I have belonged to a business networking group which meets in La Mesa for about three years. The benefit to small companies of belonging to a business network is the opportunity to get business referrals from other companies as though they are your sales force. This works best when you are not in competition with a similar company in the network, and your network includes companies which naturally receive a volume of business which they can refer to you. I belong to a team which includes a printer and an IT specialist. There are other companies in the network, but most of our business network referrals come from one another. The three of us constitute a “marketing power team.”

We would very much like to add the following companies to our marketing power team: a sign company, an advertising specialties company, an SEO specialist, a Web developer, a product photographer, and an event planner. Other categories of professions we would welcome include chiropractor, florist, handyman, painter, plumber and trust attorney. Anyone interested in more information on our Wealth Builders business network can call me at 619-203-0522, or visit our Website at www.bniwealthbuilders.com