Friday, August 28, 2009

Help us help you

By Elizabeth Miller

There's that classic scene in Jerry McGuire when the slick-speaking sports agent (Tom Cruise) tells the all-star football client (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), "Help me help you." Here at Advent Media Group, we might not be sports agents, but we do seek to create the best advertising products possible for our clients. As a client, here's some ways you can help us help you:

1. Let us know if you anticipate roadblocks for meeting your deadlines. We'll discuss options for the most efficient and effective ways to produce a project you love, without feeling rushed.

2. Going on vacation? Congrats! But let us know well in advance if you won't be readily available by email or phone. Providing the contact info of your assistant, or another office helper, is key in keeping your project rolling during your absence. It also helps to provide your cell phone number in case of emergencies.

3. Photos: If you don't have professional, hi-res images on-hand, let us know right away. We'll help you determine if you need to hire a photographer, and we can even recommend shots that look best on a page. If you aren't familiar with the techie lingo for high quality artwork (i.e., vector art, dpi, hi-res, Photoshop), we'd love to explain it.

4. We see this situation often: you're overwhelmed with a million other projects and can't find time to squeeze in this one. We'll work with your busy schedule. Tell us the best times and methods to reach you. (A cell phone call at 8 pm on a Tuesday night? Done!)

5. If your project will need the nod of approval from multiple people (i.e., legal/marketing departments, president, etc.), that's best to know up front. We'll budget plenty of time to meet the approval of all authorizing bodies.

6. Don't be afraid to tell us what you want. Color preferences, design ideas, style vibes? We want to hear them. But also don't be afraid to give us creative license. We're pros, and you can trust us to deliver something spectacular.

Remember, like Jerry, we're here for you. And the best way to help us help you is good communication.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Live Matter Area Demystified (or “Why can’t you make my logo bigger? You have so much white space on the top of that page that you are not using.”)

By Tony Pesavento, Art Director, Advent Media Group

 

It happens a lot.

The client is sent a proof and sees clear, wide-open margins surrounding their logo.

Their eyes begin to burn. Followed quickly by an itch in the throat that induces nausea, mild diarrhea, dizziness, disorientation, and the inevitable loss of manners.

“I paid $50 for my logo, why isn’t it bigger on the page?” the client asks. “Are you an idiot?”

“Perhaps,” I answer. “But please let me explain why you are seeing those margins on the page. It has to do with something called the Live Matter Area. 

“Live Matter is a boundary that is set by the magazine publishers to ensure all of your pertinent information gets printed. Because we are submitting your ad to multiple magazines with different page sizes, the Live Matter Area is imperative. All ‘live’ content–images, text, and logos–should be within this area. Anything outside of this runs a risk of getting cropped out during the production of the magazines.

Visualize this: the Live Matter Area is a 7” x 9.5” bounding box. It begins 0.875” from the top edge of the page and ends 0.5” from the bottom of the page. Its left and right margins are 0.625” from the edges of the page.”

“Oh, okay,” says the relieved client, “that makes perfect sense now. One last question, can we make our logo bigger?”

Friday, July 17, 2009

AMG Storytellers

By Vanessa Barber

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my experiences here at Advent—how they have shaped me for challenges outside of the office, the many things I have learned about design and print, and the people I have met. In a fit of nostalgia, I’ve got the urge to blog about some of my favorite stories from working here at AMG. I’ll keep it up over the next few blogs, so stay tuned! Perhaps Jackie and Tony will share some of theirs as well.

And now, I invite you into our world…

The best “first day” story: Over the many years I have been here, there’s been a few first days for new salespeople. Usually, as they meet new people and discover the lay of the land, it’s a pretty quiet event…business as usual, some would say. But Shannon G’s first day was a bit more eventful.

Most mornings, I arrive at quarter of nine, and begin to comb through my emails from the night before. This particular morning, I was sitting in my office and I saw something dart across my shirt—from my left hip to my right shoulder--out of the corner of my eye. I looked down and it was a HUGE spider—it was a solid inch or two. So naturally, I dart up from my desk and start screaming and running out into the office space. I run up to Joe, thinking “he’s a football player, he’ll protect me.” Heads are popping up over cubicle walls like whack-a-moles and Jim, father first, comes tearing out of his office. All the while I’m screaming “get it off! GET IT OFF!” which Joe successfully does and stomps on it. Spider guts are embedded into the carpet. The excitement fizzled, and Jim was kind enough to temper my hysterics by agreeing with me that “that was one huge spider.”

But the story is not over. Because not five minutes later, now ten ‘til nine, Shannon G comes in for her first day at AMG. Shannon has a bold, boisterous personality that’s instantly charming. She’s not shy, and she’s not quiet. All the while that I am having my own spidey-drama, Shannon’s mom has been calling and looking for Shannon—because her son, Maverick, had been bitten by a dog. Mother of two, and a darn good one, Shannon immediately gets on the phone and starts screaming. Hysterics. Her son is in the hospital, and she’s reacting as we all would. But no one in the office knows what’s going on, and more so, no one knows who this person is. So Shannon entered our world screaming, literally—and left about two minutes later. Of course, she rejoined our happy family the next day. But it was a particularly strange, and loud, morning here at Advent.


Friday, July 10, 2009

Speak up, Slow down, and Smile

Jackie Delk

Creative Director


 

My husband missed an unexpected call this morning from his internist's office, a medium-size practice with several staff members who interact with patients on-site and on the phone. The caller left a message, which he attempted to return immediately. The challenge: he couldn't make out the name of the person who called or why she had called. He brought the phone to me to listen to the VM, and all I could make out was that it was a message on behalf of his doctor with the ending words "and ask for me." The gal had talked too softly and far too fast. The words ended up in a blur. We are new to this practice, so the staff names are still unfamiliar to us. This put my husband in the awkward position of having to call back and say, "Someone just called me, but I don't know who it was or why they called." Well, of course, neither did the person who answered the phone.


 

Phone etiquette is so critical to good patient and public relations that the obvious bears repeating: A receptionist, or anyone else who helps answer the phones or makes calls to patients, should adhere to quality standards that reflect well on the practice. If you are the practice manager or the doctor, call your own main number once in a while and see if the way the phone is answered meets your expectations. If a patient says, "I can never understand Nurse Jean when she calls," take note and follow up.


 

I interact with many medical practices on a weekly basis, and I am always duly impressed by a pleasant, clear, and professional voice, one I can understand and immediately feel comfortable with. Too often, though, I find myself saying, "I'm sorry, who is this, please?" Either no name was offered (not a very friendly approach) or the name was offered too quickly and came across garbled. Worse, I have had many calls where I wasn't even sure I had reached the correct number because the practice name was not audible. Having to ask, "Is this Dr. Name-goes-here's office?" is not a good start, especially for a potential patient.


 

Every interaction on the phone is a chance to make a practice sound welcoming, smart, and patient-focused. When the practice representative sounds rushed, unfriendly, or unhelpful, it gives the appearance that the overall practice culture is like that. And that may not be the case at all.


 

Remind everyone on staff that every call matters. Speak up, slow down, and smile.


 

End of story: Caller located. Prescription changed. The nurse knows she prompted my blog today, and she took it good-naturedly.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

9 Sites for Designers

by Tony Pesavento

Art Director, Advent Media Group 


Below is a list of 9 of my favorite graphic design resources on the web. Enjoy.


http://ilovetypography.com/

Typography is not a science, it is an art.

 

http://www.noupe.com/design/101-css-techniques-of-all-time-part-1.html

You’ll have to look for Part 2 on your own.

 

http://www.bittbox.com/

Textures, brushes, tutorials and more.

 

http://psd.tutsplus.com/

Ever wonder how do they do that? Here’s how.

 

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/

Tutorials and stuff. I just really like this guy’s aesthetic.

 

http://adsoftheworld.com/

Website that publishes advertising from around the world. Cool stuff.

 

http://delicious.com/

Save all of your bookmarks online and share them with other people.

 

http://inspiredology.com/

Blog whose purpose is to inspire.

 

http://drawn.ca/

Illustration and cartooning blog. This is my favorite blog on the web.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Working with “Techies”

by Vanessa Barber
Project Manager, Advent Media Group

We here at Advent Media Group pride ourselves on being in-the-know when it comes to technology. Most of our clients are at the forefront of technological advances in medicine, and it’s our job to know what’s out there so we can write about it knowledgeably and educate our readers.

Over the years, we have also worked hard to stay abreast of the many ways in which technology advances outside of the medical world. We concentrate on the progressions in website development and design. As the digital age continues to expand and surge forward, it’s important that we here at AMG know everything there is to know...as soon as it is ready to be learned.

I, personally, do not know anything about computer programming. And while I have learned much over the years about web design and development, I still look to our AMG IT experts when it comes to the large, and small technological questions.

So, I thought I would compile a brief—but pointed—list of my “must-haves” for a positive working relationship with the illustrious “IT person.” If you are looking to develop a website, or choosing an IT person to help you with office technology, you may find this useful.

  • I like to learn something from every working relationship I develop. Even when it’s a tiny email issue that takes three minutes to fix, I always appreciate it when the IT person explains to me what happened with my computer, and why.
  • Knowledge is key. I always work with someone who knows the latest programs—their pros and their cons.
  • Also, I prefer to work with someone who has some knowledge in both arenas—programming and designing. They don’t necessarily need to be a designer if they are a programmer, or vice versa, but they should know W3C guidelines, and be aware of the latest trends. In this respect, really, I’m looking for an advocate for the client’s success. If you are spending money to develop a site, you don’t want to launch something that’s already outdated. And, in the world of fast-moving technology, that is an issue to consider.
  • I’ll admit it: I am sometimes completely overwhelmed by techie jargon. I often feel shy or embarrassed about asking what a particular acronym stands for, and I’ll let things go over my head when I really want to know more. The best IT person for me to work with: the one who slows down, and takes the time to answer my questions in a language I can understand.
I’m hoping as the digital age develops, and more people begin to use computers for every aspect of their business, that the divide between the IT person and us “non-techies” will diminish. I will always have more to learn when it comes to computers and advancing technology, and I look forward to gaining that knowledge through the experts.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Top Ten: things I've noticed about medical specialists


Jackie Delk

Creative Director


 

No, this isn't a Letterman act, although I borrowed his formatting; it's just highly opinionated profiling…

  1. Orthopaedic surgeons are competitive.
  2. Radiologists are either lots of fun or very, very serious…or both.
  3. Cosmetic surgeons are punctilious…and have attractive office staffs.
  4. Neurosurgeons are witty conversationalists.
  5. Cardiovascular surgeons are tough to get on the phone for an interview, but once you do…
  6. Ophthalmologists are passionate about marketing.
  7. Urologists are easygoing; gastroenterologists wear red socks. Well, Dr. Colin Chircop always does.
  8. Oncologists are engagingly polite.
  9. Medical specialists are often exceptionally talented musicians and visual artists.
  10. They love to talk about their work, making it easy for writers to get the info we need.


 

And, with very few exceptions, each enjoys sharing a laugh…thankfully!


 

Comments, debate, rebuttal are all encouraged.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Email Marketing: Rendering Issues in Microsoft Outlook 2007

By Tony Pesavento
Art Director

Recently, Advent Media Group has started to offer a new service: email marketing. We have partnered with Constant Contact, the leader in email marketing best practices, to offer our clients turn-key solutions for their email marketing campaigns. We do the writing and designing; Constant Contact gets the email delivered.

As the designer, I had to test many different email client programs to be sure that the email would render correctly. My email was table based with a little CSS. What could possibly go wrong?

Yahoo, Google mail, and Outlook 2003 were all displaying properly. It wasn’t until a colleague sent me a screenshot from her Outlook 2007 that my journey into email newsletter design really began.

Bad News for Designers
“Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 uses the HTML parsing and rendering engine from Microsoft Office Word 2007 to display HTML message bodies. The same HTML and cascading style sheets (CSS) support available in Word 2007 is available in Outlook 2007.”

In the past, Outlook had used the HTML parsing and rendering engine from Internet Explorer to display HTML message bodies. At the same time, it used Word’s parsing and rendering to compose email. Today’s Outlook 2007 is streamlined to support the same HTML and CSS as Word 2007. This is definitely not good news for designers.

So, unless your HTML emails are very simple, you’re going to have rendering problems in Microsoft Outlook 2007. Here is a list of a few things that Outlook 2007 doesn’t support (for a more comprehensive list, click here):

  • Animated GIFs – Outlook will only display the first frame of your animated gif. If you are going to use them, make sure the important information is on the first frame.
  • Background images – Background images are not supported in CSS or in tags.
  • CSS floats and positioning
  • Flash
  • Forms – The fields, text input, dropdowns, radio buttons and checkboxes, are replaced with “[ ]”, and buttons are deactivated.
  • Inconsistent padding and margins

Thankfully for PC users, an Outlook 2007 Tool, HTML and CSS Validator, provides a way to validate HTML and CSS grammar using some of the most popular Web development tools: Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, Microsoft Web Expressions 2007, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, and Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. Unfortunately for Mac users, Outlook offers no support for validation.

Classes, Inline Styles, Padding, and the Box Model
My email was an eight column table. It was 640 pixels wide. I had colspans and set widths with a few images aligned left and right. I was using Constant Contact’s Advanced Editor to create my email campaign. I would create classes that CC would convert into inline styles when sending the email.

My problems were these: Outlook 2007 was ignoring the padding on my text (classes and inline styles), butting it up to my table borders, while simultaneously adding that padding to my set-width table cell (padding and box model), causing my table to expand beyond its set width. I couldn’t wrap my head around why it supported the padding in one instance and not the other. This caused great confusion for me, and probably sent me down many dead ends.

The fixes
The latter problem was the easier fix. First, because Outlook 2007 seemed to follow the box model of Firefox (it was adding the border, the padding, and the cell width together to create a colspan greater than what I wanted), I deleted the widths of all of my table cells. The table was 640 pixels. If I had a colspan of 4, I could now assume that cell being 320 pixels, and I could design accordingly.

The text padding issue was not as easy for me. I was trying to apply classes and inline styles to the div tags for my body text. As you know, not all HTML tags, specifically the div and p tags in Outlook 2007, fully support CSS properties. This caused many problems for me. So, I tried other experiments like using the h1 tag, which fully supports the padding style, for my text, but that still didn’t work. Outlook 2007 was ignoring my padding on the text.

The one thing that worked for me was to apply a class to the td tag. My text had padding, but now so did my images! I tried applying inline styles with zero padding to my image, but that didn’t work (even though it should, according to Microsoft). My workaround was to reduce the size of my photo, accounting for the padding of the cell. So if I had 20 pixels of left and right padding, I knew that the width of my image had to be 20 pixels less.

Ultimate Workaround
I searched high and low for answers on the Web. I found a lot of blogs from the year 2007 that explained the new problems with Outlook 2007, but no answers. The purpose of this blog entry is specific: I had problems with how padding was rendering in Outlook 2007. For me, the solution was to add a class/style to the td tag (I believe the td tag is the key). This class included all of the styles I wanted for that cell. This was the only thing that worked for me. I hope this helps anyone having the same problems.

When all else fails, the best solution is to include a URL link that when clicked renders an e-mail in a W3C standard browser (i.e., Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer).

At the top of my email, I used “Trouble viewing the below message? Click here.”

This resolved the many issues caused by Outlook’s HTML rendering (because it circumvents Outlook) - and should be considered a requirement on all emails.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Professional Panic

By Vanessa Barber

Project Manager, Advent Media Group

It was a busy day. Phones were ringing off the hook, stacks of paper were waiting to be edited, and I was trying my best to keep on track…and hydrated. I was in the middle of working on editing a pretty tough piece and I was really in the zone when my phone buzzed. I reached over to pick it up and chaos ensued.

If you have ever spilled a cup of coffee, or in my case a glass of water, all over your work, you know the feeling of panic that comes over you. Everything gets louder, quicker, scarier. Try pouring that water all over your computer. It’s a similar feeling to jumping full body, head first into the ocean. In October. In New England.

For three days now, my laptop has been turned upside down with a fan blasting on it in the hopes of drying it out. And for the past three days, life has been that much harder. I am working without my documents, my materials, and my entire email history. So, in an effort to save you from this experience, I’ll share with you the few things I have learned about laptop rescue.

You know the first thing I’m going to say, I bet. Back up! Save everything to a public server at work. Get a flash drive (a portable USB storage device) and save everything on it. Do something, do anything, but remember to back up.

But that comes before the torrential downpour flooding your keys, seeping into your hardware, sizzling the motherboard. So what to do if this happens to you?

  • First, turn your computer off.
  • Second, and this is REALLY important, don’t turn it on again for days. Several days.
  • Take out the battery and shake out the water as much as possible. Don’t shake too hard.
  • Don’t touch anything with a paper towel or even your hands…avoid static electricity at all costs.
  • Flip it up so moisture is pulled away (like a tent).
  • Use a hairdryer on cool to dry it out. I’m using a fan, but some sites I have read said this is a bad idea because it may retain moisture. (I’m thinking, how much damage can I incur with a fan at this point? I guess we’ll find out.)
  • Lastly, you wait. You hope. You might even try praying.

All of these recommendations came from various forms of online research and advice from computer gurus. The only advice I can give you is this: if you MUST drink beverages while working on your computer, then you MUST drink them from a container that won’t spill. Or keep them far away from your computer. Because if you are at all as dependent on your computer as I am on mine, the devastation is not worth the drink.

On Monday, I’ll hold my breath and power on my laptop. I’ll let you know how everything turned out.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Musings on Practice Names, Acronyms, and Initialisms

By Jackie Delk, Creative Director

As I read the previous entries by bloggers Vanessa and Tony regarding logos, my mind drifted easily to the other part of that practice identity: practice names.

Over the course of my many years writing and editing for the medical world, I still am amazed at some of the truly complicated and easily forgotten practice names I have encountered. I have often wondered how much time must have been spent coming up with just the right combination of terms and words that no patient would ever remember. Most patients simply refer to the fact that they see Dr. [insert name here].

When asked for guidance by sole practitioners or small practices, I almost always recommend that they stick with their own names. If you have a long, hard-to-find name, lose it. Go to using your own name. Patients will thank you when they have to look up a lost phone number.

Case in point: An old client of mine had a practice name that was impossible for a patient to remember or quickly find in the phone book: The Center for Vein Care and Laser Therapy. He was a sole practitioner, and everyone just referred to his practice as Dr. Steadman. We talked about the idea of changing his name to Steadman Vein Care, which we both thought was wise. Before that change was implemented, he sold his practice to a vascular specialist named Edward Mackay, who promptly changed the practice name to the very simple Dr. Mackay, with a tagline “Vein and Laser Specialist.” It has served him well.


Another practice comes to mind. Ophthalmologist Dr. Stuart Kaufman was using the name Florida Eye Care, Laser & Cataract Centers as his practice name. When he changed it to Kaufman Eye Institute, I said, “Way to go!”

Think about your phone book listing
I am not an advocate of paying a lot of money to buy display ads in phone books. Prospective patients are not likely to go to the yellow pages to choose their physicians. Car mechanics? Insurance agents? Realtors? Maybe; but not doctors. They might, though, pick up a phone book to look up a number in the white pages. That is why starting the name of a practice with the word “Center” is problematic. If you want to use “Center,” or any other generic term, put it at the end of your name: The Midsouth Cancer Center.

And, by the way, that one at least tells you what kind of doctor you will get. Another former client was Center for Health and Longevity. Can you guess that she is a gynecologist?

Acronyms and Initialisms
Let’s start with definitions. An acronym, a term said to have been initiated by Bell Laboratories in 1943, uses the first letter of each word, and it forms something that is a recognizable word or is pronounceable. Integrated Community Oncology Network in Jacksonville, Florida, uses ICON as their acronym. Physicians of Rehabilitation, Industrial & Spine Medicine in Pennsylvania, has smartly adopted the acronym PRISM. Those cumbersome names have been converted to clever acronyms that make branding much easier and much more memorable. Another is FROG, which stands for Florida Radiation Oncology Group. It gave them a patient -friendly identity and a cute mascot.

Initialisms
What if you want to use the first letter of each word in your name, but it isn’t pronounceable? At Advent Media Group, we like the term “initialism.” Using an initialism can work well to make it easier for patients to refer to your practice. An example is Arizona Otolaryngology Consultants, P.C. They are very comfortable with being called AOC, and that’s a plus since, for patients, “otolaryngology” can be a tongue twister.

If you are going to use an initialism, make sure it is a solid branding decision. Your staff should use it frequently, and advertising copy should indicate that you are accepting of it.

Always make sure that the entire practice name is spelled out on first mention, and the initialism is indicated parenthetically after that. The initialism can be used throughout the rest of the copy.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Logo Battle of the Century: Vector vs. Bitmap

by Tony Pesavento
Art Director at Advent Media Group

(Queue: Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger)



In the blue corner, fighting out of Adobe Photoshop, this bitmap weighs in at hundreds of pixels, with a professional usage for websites and PowerPoint presentations:

“Kid Pixellate” dot GIF!

(CROWD ROARS)

And in the yellow corner, fighting out of Adobe Illustrator, this vector graphic weighs in at an astonishing mathematical equation consisting of points, lines, and curves, with an undefeated professional usage for print media:

"Macho Vector" dot AI!

(CROWD GOES CRAZY, WAVE FLAGS)

Let’s Get It On!
So whom are you betting on? Probably the format that is most readily available to you, right? You may say to yourself, “I’ll call my web guy and have him send me my logo, and I’ll forward it on for my magazine ad. Done. I can now move on to my other pressing needs for today, like updating my Facebook status.”

Wrong. If you’re a smart bettor (and I know you are), and you’re publishing an ad in a print magazine, you’ll want to contact the designer who originally created your logo. Let the designer know the medium (in Advent Media Group’s case, we’re publishing an ad for you in a national print magazine), and they’ll send you the appropriate file format, most likely a vector file or a very hi-res jpg.

And here’s why…

Bitmap Graphics
Bitmap graphics, also called raster graphics, are the most commonly used file formats on the web. All scanned images and images from digital cameras are bitmaps. They are composed of pixels—minute blocks of color that, when taken as a whole, compose an image. Most computer monitors display approximately 70 to 100 pixels per inch. This is why most of the logos saved as bitmaps for the Web are 72 dpi. Anything with a higher dpi would just increase file size while decreasing download speeds.

Typically, bitmaps come in different file extension (format) names:
  • .bmp
  • .gif
  • .jpeg
  • .png
  • .tiff
  • .psd



Vector Graphics
Vector graphics are the other major graphic type. They are made up of points, lines, and curves rather than pixels. Because they are not resolution dependent, vectors are scalable. You can use the same vector graphic on a billboard as you do on your biz card, without any pixellation or loss of sharpness occurring.

Common vector formats:
  • .ai
  • .cdr
  • .eps (Adobe Illustrator vector file)

And The Winner Is!
When it comes to print, this fight doesn’t go to a judge’s decision. It’s a first round knockout by the Vector File Format (it’s macho time).

So when it comes time to submitting a file format for our print magazine, go vector. You can’t go wrong.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Do You Know Where Your Logo Is?

By Vanessa Barber

Project Manager at Advent Media Group

I’ve just learned that there are people out there who actually start salivating when they drive past the golden arches of a McDonald’s. I started thinking about the power of the logo.

At my job, the word “branding” is uttered every five minutes. Branding is really the act of giving your practice a notable identity. Here’s my big tip: To establish that identity—one that is recognized by competitors and potential and existing patients—start by developing a logo. And if you already have one, use it.

I bet you're thinking something along the lines of “duh.” Sounds simple, but do you know where your logo is? Does the printing guy have it? Does the logo designer? Is it stuck in some random folder somewhere in your computer?

Part of what I do here at Advent is gather the logo and the photos that will give a client’s page its customized look, and further establish the client’s branding. But tracking down the “proper” logo isn’t always such a breeze. Most clients don’t have it available, or they simply have no idea where it is. What’s more, they don’t realize the many opportunities they have already squandered by not having ready access to their logo, and therefore not using it.

When I say “use your logo,” I really mean it. Every opportunity you have to ingrain your logo into someone’s head is one worth taking: try putting it on your signature when you send emails out. Add it to your letter head, billing statements, and, of course, on every piece of marketing you do—printing out fliers for the health fair? Sending out a monthly newsletter? What about appointment reminders?

Here is your homework: First, find your logo. If the printer or your designer has it, call them and have them email it to you. Ask them to send all of the different versions of it, and all of the different file types they have it in. Create a folder on your desktop or in your documents for all of your marketing materials. Better yet (this is coming from a Virgo, FYI), organize folders within your folder for different kinds of marketing—print, web, video, or television. And then read our blog next week, in which Tony will explain the different types of logos and where each one belongs.

Before you know it, you’ll have ready access to your logo for any promotion you engage in. You’ll use it more often, and you’ll begin seeing results. Pretty powerful for something so small, don’t you think?