Lights Out: March 29th at 8pm!

I receive daily emails from IdealBite.com. Below is today's email - read and participate in tomorrow's Earth Hour.

Is 7 minutes in the dark long enough?

The Bite
Only if you're an awkward, slobbery teenager. Otherwise, turn the lights off for a full hour tomorrow starting at 8 p.m. your time, and you'll join millions of people around the planet coming together for a cause even greater than a teen's first kiss: global warming.

The Benefits
Immediate impact. Last year's Earth Hour, which happened only in Sydney, Australia, had the effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for an hour. This year's event is global, so savings will be even bigger.
Long-term impact. Earth Hour organizers are also raising awareness by promoting energy-efficient lighting.
Fun in the dark, without being stuck in a closet. (But hey, if you wanna spend 60 minutes shacked up with your linens, it's your call.) Get together with friends, and make a night of it.
Personally Speaking
We're armed and ready for tomorrow night with beeswax candles and make-out partners.

Wanna Try?
Turn 'em off at 8 p.m. your local time, Mar. 29 (that's tomorrow).
Earth Hour - pledge to turn off your lights here, and receive Earth Hour updates and tips.

Green Resources

I've been somewhat green in my life for a while. Within the last year, I've been devouring more and more books and listening to podcasts about how to be a greener individual and to reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible. About six months ago, I had an epiphany - if I'm trying so hard to be greener in my personal life, why not carry that over to my work life?

As of recent, I've applied with the Co-Op of America to be a member of their green business organization. In doing so, there's a long questionnaire one must fill out to describe how their business operates in an environmentally fashion. In doing so, I realized that I could never have greened my business (or my life) to the extent that I have without the resources I've tapped into.

The following is a list of books that I've read, websites I've looked over and podcasts I've listened to. Hopefully you can make good use of these resources as well.



Green Talk Radio: podcasts featuring conversations about how to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

GreenLivingIdeas.com: host site of Green Talk Radio.

IdealBite.com: daily tips for living a greener life. Sign up and you'll receive one tip per day in your email box.

TheGreenOffice.com: online office supply store offering office products that are more sustainable.

Co-Op America: organization for individuals and businesses to join. Mission statement: "To harness economic power - the strength of consumers, investors, and businesses - to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society."

GreenGirlGuide.com: haven't read this one too much, but I think the design is cute.

BooksForTheFuture.org: not really a resource for making a lifestyle change, but this is a great cause. If you purchase a book, they plant a tree!

GreenHome.com: next time you need to replace something in your home, make it a more sustainable something.

These are just a few of my favorite resources. I hope this is helpful!

Lowering Rates?

Lately I've been reading a lot of articles about hourly rates and the effect our country's recession is having on them. Many freelancers are lowering their rates to keep business flowing in as much as possible, since consumers and businesses are cutting back costs. Other designers are doing away with hourly rates altogether, creating one-stop pricing per project, no matter the size or the scope. Then there's the other group of people who are just choosing to wait it out and do nothing, as far as a price change is concerned.

Of course, as designers and as small business owners, we've seen "calculate your rate" worksheets - those fill-in-the-blank sheets of paper promising to help you figure out your rate in order to cover overhead, tax and income costs. But what these worksheets don't calculate is the possible fluctuation needed to accommodate an unstable economy.

In my personal opinion (and I always have one), I feel it's somewhat "used car salesman-like" to move your prices up and down based on what people can afford to pay. As a professional, I feel it's more appropriate to run a special, or a promotion of some sort, should customers need a break. I was hoping to get a little feedback on this, just to see what other designers and small business owners felt about the issue.

Spring Special

It's that time of year for spring cleaning. I've been busy going through my closets, prepping myself for a garage sale, etc. While cleaning away, I got to thinking - we tidy up our homes and air out all of the winter "staleness." Do our businesses need a refresh as well?

I like to run a promo of some sort seasonally and thought what could work better than a promotion that plays off a spring cleaning? Tidy up your business's identity with a redesign... Here's my little promo image I sent out in my email campaign:

Networking

I read an article recently on Biznik by Mark Silver called "The Bermuda Triangle That Eats Your Referrals." It's about those referrals our clients notify us about, but that never come to fruition. What happens to them?

Mark explains, in a nutshell, that one thing you can do (amongst many others) is to thoroughly explain your services to your referrers. If your referrers are misinformed, or aren't sure how to explain what it is you do, chances are they'll paint a pretty sketchy picture to the people they talk to. Those conversations won't generate much excitement and will probably never create any work.

For a few other tips on how to keep those referrals form getting lost, read Mark's article here.

Nothing to do With Design...

This has nothing to do with design. I found this online today and though the video was amazing. Only ten minutes, and the least you can get out of it is a good conversation piece.



Path To Freedom

Promote Your Business In An Earth-Friendly Fashion

Let's face it. It's trendy to "be green." Companies across the US are trying to sell customers with their green-washing; "we're eco-friendly," "good for the earth," "we've gone green", etc. With all of the slogans, it's hard to know which services and products are actually dedicated to helping the environment.

Consumers are listening to these messages and studies have shown that now-a-days, people are making more of an effort, as a whole, to be environmentally conscious. So you've decided to join in. Whether you're looking to give your company a green-overhaul, or are just doing your part here and there, I have a few ideas that may help. What if you could take part in the race to save the earth just by bettering your marketing materials? It's surely a small step in the right direction.

The following is a list of ideas that will not only help you to be a greener person/business, but they will help you to promote your business as well.

Email Campaigns, Not Postcard Campaigns
One of the best ways to help the environment overall, is to create less trash. As business owners, we can contribute largely in this area. Direct mail campaigns may be effective, but they're also costly. Between design services, printing and postage, the dollars really begin to add up. Furthermore, having a 7% response rate, on average, is considered "doing well." That means 93% of your postcards or direct mail pieces create little or no response at all. Where do you think they've ended up? Yep, most likely in the trash.

Not only are email campaigns paperless, but they've been proven to create better results. It's delivered directly to one's email inbox, it creates easy viewing, and there's a level of convenience. If the viewer wants more info, all they need to do is click and they're at your website. That's instant gratification, and consumers love that.

If You Have To Print, Print This Way
So you're really crazy about making postcards and you seem to get great results. Fine, but if you have to print, do it wisely. Print the quantity you really need; not enough to store on your bookshelves behind your desk.

A better way to print is to also notify your graphic designer. Your designer will be able to talk to your printer about paper options that are created from post-consumer content; options that also won't hinder your design or your project objective. Also advise your designer/printer to use soy or vegetable-based inks. Sometimes, some printers only have these inks in specific colors. Make sure the designer creates your attractive design with limited color options, if need be.

Better Banners
If you've decided to do a tradeshow, the most typical signage pieces are banners. There are actually printers out there that specialize in printing not only with environmentally-friendly inks, but on special, eco-friendly banner materials as well. A good example of such a printer is Green Banners.

Put Your Catalogs Online
If your company prints and distributes product catalogs, there's never been a better time to inspire you to sell your products online. Online shopping carts, or e-commerce websites, can be pricey and time-consuming to initialize. But once it's up and your products are listed, it will take less time to manage and advertise them, than it would to redesign and print them however often. Talk to a design and web professional about custom designing a website with a matching online shopping cart.

E-Coupons, Not Paper Coupons
Coupons are great and they tend to be very effective. You can cater to the lazy customer and to the earth by not printing and mailing paper coupons. This creates work for the customer (they have to cut!) and trash. Instead, feature your coupon on your website or in an email campaign with a promotional code. When the user buys a product on your new e-commerce site (wink, wink), they can simply type in their promo code. You have an effective coupon with no paper and no cutting.

Printers
So you'd like to maybe rebrand yourself. Work with your designer/printer about your paper and ink options and work with a green printer, as mentioned previously. There are a few that I recommend.

*On A National Level: Greener Printer
Very eco-friendly and easy to work with online.

*On A Local Level: Graphic Design, Inc.
Located in Hastings, Minnesota. A full print shop with lots of green capabilities.

*On An International Level (label printing): Metro Label Group, Inc.
I've never worked with them personally, but understand they actually run their business in an environmentally-friendly building. Located in Canada, this company offers label printing solutions.

Saying Thank You
A great way to network is to send thank you cards. Customers and colleagues really appreciate being appreciated. Why not make an impression about your business sense and your green-conscious mind with Grown-A-Note greeting cards? These attractive, handmade paper cards are also PLANTABLE. After reading your message, the recipient actually plants your card. A few months later, they have flowers or herbs based on whichever seeded paper you've chosen (this is my favorite tip.)

The list can go on and on. If you'd like more ideas, or would like to discuss making your business materials green, email me at angela@13thirtyone.com.

Greener Printer

I've always thought helping the environment and making an effort was important. But lately, I've been on a green-kick much more fierce than ever (did you catch my Project Runway lingo?). I've really become passionate about living a greener lifestyle and its affected every aspect of my life - the hand lotion I use, the furniture I'm buying, even the podcasts I listen to.

Bringing such a lifestyle into my work is only inevitable. I may have mentioned them before, but there's a great printing company out there called GreenerPrinter. I recently received a kit full of their samples, and let me tell you, these soy and vegetable-based inks look good.

Not only does this company run entirely on wind energy, but they limit themselves to the use of one paper line only. "GreenerPrinter uses exclusively New Leaf Paper, which leads the paper industry in the development and distribution of environmentally superior printing and office papers. New Leaf’s papers use high post-consumer recycled content and most are whitened without chlorine or chlorine compounds." (see About Us section on company website for more info)

While the prices for printing might be slightly higher than the average Joe's costs, I thinking helping my clients to work with a company such as this is a reward in itself. It's one thing to have great-looking printed pieces. It's another to have them look great and to be great for the environment as well.